Socioeconomic and environmental disparities in childhood unintentional injury risk in urban households in Chongqing, China: a latent profile analysis of cross-sectional survey data
Rong Zhang, Ying Wu, Wei-Rong Pu, Pei Chen, Guang-Yan Lin, Shan HeObjectives
While the social determinants of the home environment and childhood unintentional injuries (UIs) are well established, their association within the context of rapid urbanisation in China remains understudied. Given its rapid urban growth and unique housing landscape, Chongqing provides a valuable context for this investigation. This study aimed to investigate how socioeconomic and home environmental factors collectively shape the risk of childhood UIs in urban households in Chongqing.
Design
Cross-sectional study.
Setting
Data were collected in April 2023, in Jiangbei District, Chongqing Municipality, China.
Participants
A total of 1282 parents of children aged 0–14 years were recruited by stratified convenience sampling by the local Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Ultimately, 1186 valid questionnaires were included in the data analysis.
Outcome measures
Various indicators, including family demographics, home environmental characteristics and in-home environmental UI risk assessment, were examined.
Results
Three risk levels were identified by latent profile analysis: the Secure Environment Profile (70.91%), the Intermediate-Risk Profile (24.20%) and the High-risk Multi-hazard Profile (4.89%). Key determinants were identified through ordinal logistic regression. An increase in living area per child (m²) was associated with a reduced likelihood of being classified within a higher risk profile (OR=0.995, 95% CI 0.990 to 1.000). Furthermore, compared with households with a monthly per capita income of ≥15 000 yuan, those earning <4000 yuan and 4000–6999 yuan had 2.004 (95% CI 1.177 to 3.408) and 1.893 (95% CI 1.168 to 3.068) times the odds, respectively, of being classified within a higher-risk profile.
Conclusions
This study identifies significant heterogeneity in childhood UI risk among urban households in Chongqing, effectively characterised by distinct risk profiles. Living area per child (m 2 ) and monthly per capita income were identified as the major social determinants, providing a basis for developing targeted prevention and intervention measures for vulnerable urban children in China.