engleski

INPATIENT MORBIDITY IN SCHOOL CHILDREN AND STUDENTS AT ZAGREB HOSPITALS 1996-2004

Introduction: School children and adolescents are the healthiest population groups, in which injuries due to specific behavioral patterns are the most common cause of morbidity. Traffic accidents are the leading mechanism of injury infliction, mostly due to reckless driving, lack of attention, or disregard of traffic risks. Subjects: Health statistics data on inpatiently treated individuals during a 9-year period (1996-2004) were analyzed. Study population were divided into three groups: elementary school children aged 6-14 ; secondary school children aged 15-19 ; and subjects aged 20-27, including a high proportion of college/university students. Methods: The methods of descriptive statistics were used. Data on patients admitted to and discharged from the hospital for the diagnoses of injuries, poisoning, and other extrinsic causes were analyzed according to years (1996- 2004), age, and sex. Results: During the study period (1996-2004), 36563 individuals, age range 6-27, were hospitalized for the above mentioned reasons, yielding an incidence of 4062.6 individuals per year. Sex distribution revealed a twofold male predominance: 26233 male and 10330 female, i.e. 2.5 male subjects per one female subject, were hospitalized for injuries. The most unfavorable sex ratio was recorded in the 20-27 age group (M/F 72%:28%), followed by the 15-19 age group (M/F 68%:32%), whereas the lowest ratio was observed in the group of elementary school children (M/F 63%:37%). According to years (1996-2004), relatively parallel curves showing a slightly declining tendency were observed. Discussion: The issue definitely offers a great potential for reducing the rate of injurying and thus of inpatient treatment. Considering the Zagreb area, a slowly declining tendency was observed during the 9-year study period, probably resulting from the numerous target activities performed by respective schools in collaboration with health care professionals. Conclusion:Considering behavioral patterns of the study population, preventive activities should be launched through the family, school, mass media and other services, stimulating them to pay due attention to this particular population group, to protect them, to make them aware of the traffic associated risks, and to increase the level of self-protection.

injury; inpatient morbidity; school children; students

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