A meta-analysis of prevalent characteristics of injury-related behaviors among adolescents based on Chinese literature

ObjectiveTo conduct a meta-analysis of the prevalent characteristics of the injury-related behaviors among adolescents in China based on Chinese literature, so as to inform the prevention and control of injury-related behaviors of this population.MethodsA cross-sectional study on the prevalent characteristics of adolescent injury-related behaviors was conducted with the data collected from CNKI, VIP, Wanfang Data, CBM, PubMed, and Web of Science. The review included publications from the inception of the databases to November 2023. Meta-analysis was performed with Stata 15.1 software.ResultsA total of 40 articles were included in this study, and the meta-analysis results showed that cycling violation rate was 38% (95%CI: 32%‒43%), walking violation rate was 29% (95%CI: 22%‒36%), rate of unsafe swimming was 13% (95%CI: 11%‒14%), suicidal ideation rate was 13% (95%CI: 12%‒15%) and the prevalence of fighting was 19% (95%CI: 17%‒22%). Subgroup analysis showed that the cycling violation rate was (44%) for boys and 34% (95%CI: 28%‒40%) for girls. Adolescents in Northeast, East, and Southwest of China had the highest rate of cycling violation (44%), of which junior high school students had the highest rate of violation [42% (95%CI: 36%‒49%)]. As for the walking violation rate, male students [29% (95%CI: 21%‒37%)] was higher than that of female students [22% (95%CI: 15%‒30%)]. Adolescents in North of China had the highest rate of walking violation [54% (95%CI: 30%‒76%)], of which vocational school students accounted for 38% (95%CI:21%‒56%) of the total violation. In terms of the detection rate of unsafe swimming, male students [18% (95%CI: 14%‒24%)] was higher than that of female students [8% (95%CI: 6%‒10%)]. Adolescents in Central South China had the highest rate of unsafe swimming [15% (95%CI: 12%‒18%)], of which, vocational school students accounted for the highest [15% (95%CI: 10%‒19%)]. When it comes to the prevalence of suicidal ideation, female students [16% (95%CI: 13%‒19%)] was higher than that of male students [13% (95%CI: 11%‒15%)]. Adolescents in Southwest of China had the highest rate of suicidal ideation [17% (95%CI: 10%‒25%)], of which high school students accounted for the highest [15% (95%CI: 12%‒18%)]. Finally, the detection rate of fights was 30% (95%CI: 26%‒34%) for boys and 11% (95%CI: 10%‒14%) for girls. Adolescents from Southwest of China had the highest rate [29% (95%CI: 24%‒34%)] for fights, and junior high school students accounted for the highest [26% (95%CI: 22%‒31%)].ConclusionThe prevalence of harmful behaviors among adolescents in China is notably high, with statistical differences across gender, region, and school stages. These behaviors pose a risk to adolescent health, underscoring the need for targeted interventions by health and educational authorities.