Epidemiological Characteristics of School Accidents in a Middle School

중학교 학교사고의 역학적 특성

Purpose: This study was conducted to identify the epidemiological characteristics of school accidents in middle school students. Methods: The subjects in this study were the students of a middle school in Gangnung. The study period was one semester, from March 2 to July 15, 1999. Data were collected by one of the authors using a structured questionnaire, and the subjects who had school accidents and visited the school health care office were interviewed. The data was analyzed using the SPSS and SAS programs. Results: The semester incidence rate per 100 students was 31.6 cases. The daily accident rate was 2.8 cases, and the accident incidence density was 2.6 cases per 1,000 students days. The mean of accident incidence was 1.7 per student. The incidence was the highest in June. The most frequent cause of accidents was carelessness, and the accidents were most frequent at recess. Conclusion: It is necessary to conduct the analytic epidemiological study to identify the risk factors of school accidents.