Epidemiology of Home Accidents among Children Aged Under-Five Years in Algeria: An Application of Negative Binomial Regression Models

Home Accidents among Children Aged Under-Five Years in Algeria

Abstract

Objectives: Unintentional accidents in children are a major cause of morbidity and mortality. The objectives of this study were to identify the most frequent accidents among children under five years of age in Algeria and to estimate the effects of socioeconomic factors on the risk of accidents. Methods: A dataset from the Multi Indictors Clustering Survey (MICS6) of Algeria was used, and the approach of generalized linear model (GLM) based on a zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model was adopted to estimate the effects of the sex of the child, mother’s occupation status, mother’s educational level, area of residence, and wealth index on the risk of home accidents. Results: Of the total number of children, 821 were declared victims of unintentional home accidents, representing a prevalence rate of 5.5%. Accidents were caused by falls (62.6%), followed by burn (13.4%) and those due to road accidents (5.2%).We found a significant rural-to-urban area ratio of 1.21, and a significant boys-to-girl ratio of 1.33. Model selection showed that a standard negative binomial model outperformed the ZINB model, and coefficient estimates revealed that sex (OR = 0.58, 95%CI: 0.51, 0.66), area of residence (OR = 0.49, 95%CI: 0.43, 0.56), mother’s educational level (OR = 0.64, 95%CI: 0.55, 0.83), and mother’s occupation status (OR = 0.40, 95%CI: 0.33, 0.48) were significant factors affecting the risk of home accidents. Conclusions: Primary prevention actions and awareness-raising activities for parents regarding the risk of domestic accidents must be conducted and monitored especially in rural areas.