Serious Unintentional Injuries Among In-School Adolescents in Saint Lucia: A Further Analysis of Prevalence and Correlates

Abstract

Serious injuries among adolescents are a leading cause of death and a global public health concern. This study examined the prevalence and correlates of serious injuries among in-school adolescents in Saint Lucia. Using a two-stage cluster sampling design to attain a fair population representation, we analysed data from the World Health Organization's 2018 Global School-based Health Survey among adolescents in the Eastern Caribbean Island of Saint Lucia. We used the Chisquare test and binomial logistic regression analysis with an adjusted odds ratio (AOR) at a 95 % confidence interval (CI). We observed that the prevalence rate of serious injuries among adolescents in Saint Lucia was 44.5 % (24.5 % male versus 20.0 % female). After controlling for other factors, serious injuries among in-school adolescents in Saint Lucia were predicted by sex (male) (AOR=1.110, 95 % CI=0.792-1.556), missing class without permission (AOR=1.308, 95 % CI=1.009-1.696), abusing alcohol (AOR=1.370, 95 % CI=1.114-1.684), experiencing physical attacks (AOR=1.669, 95 % CI=1.327-2.099), physical fight (AOR=1.527, 95 % CI=1.529-1.225) and being bullied (AOR=2.171, 95 % CI=1.712-2.753). Adolescent health promotion and injury prevention programmes should adopt multidisciplinary approaches to address these personal and psychosocial risk factors in Saint Lucia.