OBJECTIVETo investigate the incidence of accident proneness and its influencing factors in rural children.

METHODSBy random cluster sampling, 1 560 children were enrolled from one rural area in Hunan Province, China, and were surveyed with self-designed general and injury questionnaires. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to explore the major risk factors for accident-prone children.

RESULTSOne hundred and forty-seven accident-prone children were screened out and the incidence of accident proneness was 9.42%. Univariate analysis showed that gender (P<0.01), academic record (P<0.01), left-behind status (P<0.05), family type (P<0.05), family economic status (P<0.01), guardian's gender (P<0.05), guardian's marital status (P<0.05), guardian's occupation (P<0.05), and family educational mode (P<0.05) were influencing factors for accident proneness in rural children. Multivariate logistic regression analysis further revealed that low grade (OR=3.683, 95%CI: 1.028-4.283) and very low grade (OR=2.099, 95% CI: 1.587-8.546) in academic record, poverty in family economic status (OR=2.353, 95% CI: 1.222-4.533), and indulgence or indifference (OR=1.914, 95% CI: 1.029-3.559) and fickleness (OR=4.153, 95% CI: 1.847-9.338) in guardian's educational mode were risk factors for accident proneness in rural children, while female gender (OR=0.539, 95% CI: 0.369-0.788) was a protective factor.

CONCLUSIONSLow academic record, poor family economy, and incorrect family education mode (indulgence or indifference and fickleness) would increase the incidence of accident proneness in rural children, but girls have less accident proneness than boys.