Characteristics of Children Admitted with Moderate and Severe Brain Injury: A Three-Year Investigation in the Southwest of Iran

Considering the burden of moderate and severe brain injury on families and society, and that trauma is one of the common causes of death and disability in Iran, this study aimed to investigate the frequency of death from severe to moderate brain injury in children with brain trauma.

In this cross-sectional study, records of 126 patients under 18 years of age with moderate and severe brain injuries admitted to Namazi Hospital, Shiraz, Iran during 2017-2019 were investigated. The relative frequency of mortality, parents’ education level, day of trauma, types of trauma, age, gender, and length of hospitalization were studied. P values were set at 0.05; Chi-square and T-test were used for variable comparisons.

The study’s male-to-female ratio was almost 2:1, and the mean and standard deviation of the age of all children in the study was 6.84±4.33. The relationship between brain injury severity and hospitalization length was significant (P<0.001). 21.4% of patients with moderate and severe brain injury were Afghan. The highest frequency of trauma was related to accidents, with 69.8%, followed by falling down at 23.8%.

The most common cause of death in children with brain injury was trauma caused by an accident. To decrease the burden of severe and moderate brain injury in children, health policymakers may tailor interventions to two important groups, including parents with a low level of education and Afghan nationals.