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

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.