OBJECTIVETo understand the neglect situation of elementary and high school students aged 6-17 years in western rural areas of China.

METHODSUsing multi-stage stratified cluster sampling method, 4 131 students were recruited from 26 rural elementary and high schools of 7 districts in Shanxi province and Chongqing from September 2012 to April 2013. The investigation was conducted based on 'The Development of Neglect Evaluation Norms and Influence Factors for Primary and Middle School Students' in rural areas of China. SAS 9.21 software was used for analyzing neglect rate and neglect degree for groups of age, sex and neglect types (including neglect of physical, emotional, medical, educational, safety and social).

RESULTSThe total neglect rate and degree were 55.50% (1 943/3 501) and 49.96 ± 9.67; the neglect rates for males and females were 56.78% (1 018/1 793) and 54.16% (925/1 708) (P = 0.119); the neglect degrees were 50.08 ± 9.31 and 49.83 ± 10.02 (P = 0.479), respectively. The girls' medical neglect rate (18.25%, 348/1 907) was significantly higher than that in boys (14.72%, 294/1 997) (P < 0.01); the boys' neglect degrees of physical, educational and social neglect (50.05 ± 10.46, 49.99 ± 10.81, 57.63 ± 14.63) were significantly higher than that in girls (49.34 ± 10.70, 49.07 ± 11.30, 56.37 ± 14.80) (P < 0.05). The total neglect rates of 6-8, 9-11, 12-14 and 15-17 groups were 44.48% (310/697), 60.40% (511/846), 60.89% (601/987) and 53.66% (521/971) (P < 0.01), and the total neglect degrees among these groups were 46.89 ± 8.57, 51.88 ± 9.25, 51.88 ± 9.25 and 51.72 ± 8.89 (P < 0.01), respectively. Except the neglect rates of medical and social neglect, significant differences were found in other three neglect rates and neglect degrees. The rates of social, emotional and safety neglect in 9-11 group were higher than that in other groups (28.39% (264/930), 26.41% (239/905), 20.35% (187/919)). The 12-14 group has the highest educational neglect rate(29.41%, 317/1 078). While the physical and emotional neglect degrees in 12-14 and 15-17 group were higher than that in other groups(12-14 group: 51.59 ± 10.02, 53.43 ± 12.02, 15-17 group: 51.96 ± 9.80, 52.61 ± 11.59). The social, safety, educational and medical neglect degrees were the highest in 6-8, 9-11, 12-14 and 15-17 group (60.91 ± 13.13, 48.29 ± 11.34, 52.43 ± 10.55, 51.15 ± 17.25), respectively. The neglect rates and neglect degrees were significantly higher in minorities(68.88% (374/543) and 52.91 ± 9.14) than those in Han population (53.04% (1 569/2 958), 49.44 ± 9.67)(P < 0.01 in both indexes); and the neglect rates and neglect degrees were significantly higher in children with siblings group (58.20% (1 504/2 584), 50.58 ± 9.54) than those the in one-child group (47.87% (439/917), 48.27 ± 9.80) (P < 0.01 in both indexes); and the neglect rates and neglect degrees were significantly higher in left-hand students (61.65% (1 101/1 786), 51.41 ± 9.51) than those in living-with-parents students(49.10% (842/1 715), 48.56 ± 9.61) (P < 0.01 in both indexes).

CONCLUSIONThe children neglect situation is serious in western rural areas, close attention from families, schools and the society is in urgent need.