Caregiver worry and injury hazards in the daily lives of Ugandan children

Background: over 95% of unintentional injury-related childhood deaths globally occur inlow- and middle-income countries, such as uganda. risks for injury in settings like rural ugandaare vastly understudied despite differing patterns of child injury risk. the present studyinvestigated the prevalence and type of hazards in children’s environments in rural uganda, aswell as the relationship between hazard exposure and parent attitudes and perceptionsregarding unintentional injury.methods: our sample included 152 primary caregivers in eastern rural uganda who hadchildren in either 1st or 6th grade. all parents/guardians completed caregiver surveys followingverbal instructions. surveys assessed demographic information, child hazard exposure, andparent beliefs regarding child injury. results: almost all parents (98.5%) reported daily exposure for their children to at least one ofthe hazards assessed. caregiver's perceived likelihood of child injury was positively related tohazard exposure (r = .21, p less than .05). this relationship remained significant when controllingfor family demographics, child grade level, and child injury history (f (7, 126) = 2.25, p less than.05).conclusions: our results suggest that ugandan parents are aware of the risks of children’sexposure to hazards, but may lack the tools to address it. development of injury preventioninterventions focusing on behavioral change techniques may help reduce childhood injury andinjury-related deaths in uganda.