OBJECTIVETo explore the morbidity, mortality, and disease burden of traffic injury in children aged 0-17 years so as to develop a related strategy on prevention.

METHODS100,000 households were selected by PPS sampling method in Jiangxi province. All children aged 0-17 years in selected households were interviewed by trained interviewers using a standardized 'traffic injury questionnaire'.

RESULTSThe overall mortality and fatality rates of traffic injury were 10.17/100,000 and 1.36% respectively while the traffic injury morbidity in children of 0-17 years old was 7.40 per thousand. Morbidity in males was 8.29 per thousand compared to 6.26 per thousand in females. Severe cases accounted for 1.79 per thousand of the total but those living in urban area appeared to be 0.93 per thousand compared to 1.88 per thousand in the rural area, with statistical significance. Pedestrian and cyclists related injuries accounted for 80.48% of all the injured children. The average medical cost per case was 1369.57 Yuan with an average of 3.63 days of hospitalization. The average days of missing school/working was 8.79.

CONCLUSIONThe morbidity and mortality among male children were higher than those among female children. The morbidity of severe traffic injury cases in children living in rural area was higher than that of children living in urban area. The disease burden of traffic injury in Jiangxi province was heavy and the development of relative intervention strategy seemed urgent in Jiangxi province.