• S M Chowdhury, A Rahman, S R Mashreky, S M Giashuddin, L Svanström, L G Hörte, and F Rahman.
• Division of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health Science, Karolinska Institutet, 171 76 Stockholm, Sweden. smchow_dhaka@yahoo.com
• J Environ Public Health. 2009 Jan 1;2009:435403.

IntroductionThe paper aims to explore the magnitude and distribution of unintentional injuries among Bangladeshi children (<18 years).MethodologyA cross sectional survey was conducted during 2003 (January to December) in 12 randomly selected districts and Dhaka Metropolitan City of Bangladesh. Nationally representative data were collected from 171 366 households comprising of 351 651 children of under 18 years. Information includes the number of deaths and illness at the household in the preceding year. Verbal autopsy and verbal diagnosis form was used to determine the cause of mortality and morbidity respectively.ResultsThere were 351651 children in the study, of which 5577 had one or more injuries in the past one year. Drowning and falls was the leading cause of injury mortality and morbidity in children over 1 year of age respectively. Incidence of unintentional injuries was significantly higher among boys (95% CI = -2157.8) than girls (95% CI = 968.7 - 1085.8) while rural children were the most vulnerable group. Home and its premises was the most common place for the injury incidence.ConclusionThe result of the study could be an insight to the policy makers to develop realistic and effective strategies to address the issue.

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