A Qualitative Study on the Current Status and Needs of Unintentional Injury Prevention and Control Interventions for Children Aged 3-12 in Guizhou Province, China

Xiujuan Li¹Roumei Lin¹Pan Wen^1,2Liping Li^1,2*Linlin Xie¹Yaogui Lu²Guanhua Fan^1,2Zicheng Cao¹Fancun Meng¹Yanhong Huang³Jian-E Peng⁴

• ¹School of Public Health, Shantou University, Shantou, China
• ²Shantou University Medical College Injury Preventive Research Center, Shantou, China
• ³Shantou University Mental Health Center, Shantou, China
• ⁴Shantou University, Shantou, China

Background: Unintentional injuries are a leading cause of death and disability among children and adolescents worldwide, particularly in economically underdeveloped regions. Guizhou, an impoverished and multi-ethnic region in southwestern China, faces elevated risks due to limited healthcare resources and a high proportion of left-behind children. However, few studies have explored prevention and control needs from the perspective of target populations. Using a qualitative approach, this study adopted a "bottom-up" perspective to investigate the needs of children, caregivers, teachers, and community workers in Guizhou regarding the prevention and control of unintentional injuries among children, aiming to provide a scientific basis for developing precise, culturally adapted intervention strategies. Objective: This study aimed to examine the current status and needs of unintentional injury prevention and control interventions for children aged 3-12 in Guizhou Province. Methods: Participants were selected using purposive sampling. From July 8 to 22, 2024, semi-structured interviews were conducted with children aged 3-12, their caregivers, teachers, and local social workers in Guiyang, Liping County, and Xingyi City, Guizhou Province. These included 31 focus group discussions with children and 121 in-depth interviews with caregivers, teachers, and community workers. Thematic analysis of the data was performed using NVivo 15 software. Results: Data analysis revealed four core themes: existing prevention and control interventions, intervention effectiveness, intervention gaps, and intervention needs. Existing interventions primarily included safety education, joint prevention and control mechanisms, and physical protection measures. While these efforts were reported to improve children's safety awareness and reduced injury incidents, gaps remained, such as inadequate parental supervision, prominent environmental hazards, insufficient publicity, resource shortages, and poor cross-sector collaboration. Vulnerable groups, including left-behind children living alone and children with disabilities, faced higher risks. Participants expressed diverse intervention needs, including environmental modifications, resource support, enhanced publicity, and innovative prevention strategies. Conclusion: The current government-led prevention and control system has achieved certain successes but requires a shift from broad coverage to targeted interventions. Future efforts should strengthen family responsibility, improve multi-sectoral collaboration, and increase resource allocation. Integrating technology and cultural guidance to establish a multi-sectoral prevention network could reduce unintentional injury risk among children and promote health equity.