Households for infants and young adults and bicycles for teenagers...Different age-specific risk factors for damage
Aug 28, 2025
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A total of 86,633 injured patients visited the emergency rooms of 23 participating hospitals, plunging to 42.6% compared to the previous year (203,285 cases in 2023), but the hospitalization rate increased to 23.7% (16.1% in 2023, 7.6% p↑) and the death rate to 2.6% (1.2% in 2023, 1.4% p↑). It is analyzed that this is due to the decrease in visits by mild patients due to restrictions on the use of emergency rooms due to the medical situation, but severe patients at high risk of hospitalization or death mainly used emergency rooms.
Among all injured patients, men (56.5%) outnumbered women (43.5%), and by age, those aged 70 or older accounted for the highest percentage since the 2006 survey, with 19.3%. This is interpreted as reflecting the decrease in the use of the emergency room of mild patients along with changes in the demographic structure due to low birth rate and aging population.
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In particular, damage such as falls and falls (42.7%), addiction (19.8%), blunt injuries (16.4%), and suffocation (0.9%) was relatively higher than non-drinking conditions (39.5%, addiction 5.5%, blunt injuries 15.2% and suffocation 0.5%). In addition, the incidence of intentional damage such as self-harm, suicide, violence, and murder was 38.6%, about five times higher than that of non-drinking (7.9%).
Among all injured patients, 11.1% of intentional injuries such as self-harm, suicide, violence, and murder were the highest since the survey (2006-2023) (less than 10%). In particular, the number of self-harm and suicide patients was 8.0% of all injured patients, an increase of 3.6 times (2.2% in 2014) compared to 10 years ago, and the rate of self-harm and suicide attempts among teens and 20s surged compared to other age groupsIt increased 12.7%p from 26.7% in 2014 to 39.4% in 2023. Psychiatric problems such as depression (45.6%) were the most common reasons for self-harm and suicide attempts. Self-harm and suicide attempts were mainly made at home (84.1%), and addiction (67.4%) was the most common method of attempt.
Meanwhile, the number of damaged patients in traffic accidents accounted for 15.1% of the total damage in 2024, and the proportion of the elderly aged 70 or older was 17.4%, up 2.1 times from 2014 (8.3%), while the proportion of under-teens was 13.9%, down 1.6 times from 2014 (21.7%).
By means of transportation, the proportion of 'other and unknown land transportation', including personal mobile devices such as electric kickboards, surged 12.5 times ('14 years 0.4% → '24 years 5.0% and 4.6% p↑), emerging as a new risk factor.
By role, drivers (64.7%), pedestrians (19.3%), and passengers (14.4%) were in order, and the rate of wearing protective equipment was relatively high in seat belts (71.2%), motorcycle helmets (74.2%), and safety chairs (car seats) (55.2%), but the rate of wearing bicycle helmets was only 16.2%, showing a clear gap in safety consciousness by means.
As the elderly population increases due to aging, the proportion of patients over 70 in falls also increased 2.1 times (17.1% in 2014 → 35.3% in 2024, 18.2%p↑) compared to 10 years ago (2014), and hospitalization and mortality also increased with age. Most fall accidents occurred in homes (43.6%), followed by living rooms (17.3%), toilets (16.5%), stairs (15.3%), and rooms and bedrooms (15.3%). Traumatic brain injury (52.4%) was the main damaged area, and fractures (39.4%) were the most damaged area.
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The most common damage mechanism was falls and falls (40.8%), and it occurred frequently in homes (58.6%), but the rate of damage in schools, educational facilities, and roads tended to increase as the age increased.
Traumatic brain damage (38.8%) and bruising and superficial damage (30.2%) were mainly caused by the site and pattern of occurrence. In particular, the type and cause of damage were clearly distinguished by age group. Under the age of one, 35.8% of households were the most common cause of damage, followed by falls (71.1%) and traumatic brain injuries (51.3%).
At the age of 1 to 2, vehicle-riders accounted for 68.8% of the distribution of transportation accidents by means of transportation, which requires raising awareness of the use of safety chairs by infants and toddlers. The age of 3-6 had many buildings and accessories (24.1%) as the cause of damage, and the rate of traffic accidents while walking was 40.4%. Bicycle accidents were noticeable among those aged 7 to 12, accounting for 54.9% of all transportation accidents, but the rate of wearing a bicycle helmet was very low at 5.3%. The proportion of motorcycles (19.8%) in transportation accidents was higher for 13-18 years old than for other age groups, and 44.3% of falls were intentional damage. In particular, addiction damage (85.8%) for suicide purposes was tapped by more than half of adolescents aged 13-18. As the causative agent, therapeutic drugs accounted for 91.1%, and psychiatric problems such as depression were the most common background factors at 57.5%.
Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Lim Seung-kwan said, `This 2024 statistics on children and adolescents' injuries go beyond mere statistics of injuries, and contain serious social and medical challenges such as increased adolescent self-harm and suicide and the risk of damage to home and living spaces"Especially among those aged 13 to 18 years, the addiction damage for suicide purposes shows the urgency of mental health support for adolescents and drug safety management at home."
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
