Risk factors and prevention of falls in children under 3 years: a systematic review

Background and Study Aim. Falls are one of the leading causes of injuries among children under the age of three, potentially leading to a reduced quality of life and various health consequences. Investigating the mechanisms of falls and their possible outcomes is a promising and crucial area for reducing childhood injury rates. The aim of this systematic review is to identify key patterns and factors associated with falls in young children, as well as to propose preventive strategies to minimize the risk of injuries. Materials and Methods. The source of information was the Web of Science Core Collection database for the period 2014–2024. The search was conducted using key terms related to falls, injuries, and risk factors. A total of 9,681 article records were retrieved. For evidence-based automated extraction of relevant documents, the Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) model was employed. Relevance criteria were used to assess the significance of the texts. The reliability of the document extraction methodology was evaluated using coherence score and perplexity. The coherence score for word pairs was 0.8185, while perplexity was -2.9333, indicating a high interpretability of topics. Data processing was carried out using the Python programming language and the PyCharm CE development environment. Results. The analysis of the selected publications identified four main areas related to falls in children under the age of three. The majority of falls occur in domestic settings, particularly from furniture and during the use of infant products. Significant risks are associated with parental fatigue and postpartum depression, which contribute to falls from caregivers' hands and accidents during newborn care. Falls often result in severe traumatic brain injuries, as evidenced by a high rate of hospitalizations. Effective preventive measures include parental education programs, improvements in maternity ward conditions, and enhancements in home safety. Conclusions. Falls in children under the age of three represent a serious issue that requires a comprehensive approach to prevention. The identified patterns and risk factors highlight the need for the implementation of preventive measures. Effective strategies should include parental education programs, improvements in home and healthcare facility safety. The implementation of these measures will help reduce the incidence of falls and related injuries, ultimately improving the quality of life for young children.