Accidents in the context of study among university students—A multicentre cross-sectional study in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany

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Abstract

Knowledge about prevalence and patterns of accidents among university students is scarce. The aims of the present health survey were to assess the general prevalence of accidents among university students, to describe the specific kinds of accidents, and to analyse associated factors. A multicentre cross-sectional health survey was conducted at 12 universities and 4 universities of applied sciences in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany. The response rate was 88%. The self-administered questionnaire covered multiple areas of health, behaviours and a specific module for accidents. In total, 252 (8.8%) out of 2855 students (aged 17–26 years) had experienced an accident in the context of their studies. Contusions, compressions and strains constituted more than 50% of all kinds of injuries, while fractures, irritations, burns or acid burns were reported less frequently. The cumulative risk of experiencing an accident was increasing linearly with the study duration, indicating an absence of a specific vulnerable period. Nearly 60% of all accidents took place during study-related sports activities, and about a quarter of all accidents occurred on the way to or from university. Only few accidents occurred on university floors, in lecture rooms or on stairways. Further studies are needed to assess more in depth the causes of accidents and the situation immediately preceding the event before making specific recommendations for prevention.

Introduction

There is a growing number of analyses regarding children health and safety in Germany (Kahl et al., 2007, Kelm et al., 2004, Kelm et al., 2001, Schneiders et al., 2005), but the knowledge about accidents among students in the context of their studies is still limited. Accidents experienced by university students in Germany are classified as occupational, if they happen in the context of their studies—including accidents on the way to and from university. The German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV) is collecting information about these occupational student accidents. According to official data, 0.64% of university students in Germany have experienced occupational accidents in 2005 (calculated on the basis of the German Social Accident Insurance (DGUV), 2008; Federal Statistical Office, 2008). However, the data is incomplete because of several problems. First, not all accidents are reported by students, because many do not know that these accidents are classified as occupational. Especially accidents occurring on the way to university or from university back home are likely not to be considered occupational. Second, only accidents are recorded, which are subject to registration. Therefore, bagatelle injuries are excluded from registration, although they can indicate serious dangers, which under less lucky circumstances could have led to severe injuries. Third, additional information like socio-demographic variables is not collected in the official registration. In Germany, previous analyses related to accidents among students have been performed by single insurance companies and are limited to descriptive purposes or they just focus on selected types of accidents (Social Accident Insurance Berlin, n.d.). Other published inquiries about student accidents either come from Anglo-American (Callan et al., 2006, Sumilo and Stewart-Brown, 2006) or Scandinavian countries (Sane et al., 1997), and their results might not apply to Germany. Furthermore, the studies display a substantial variation in reported accidents rates. In the UK, a postal questionnaire survey of 1208 students at three institutions showed an overall annual incidence of accidents among students of 8%, while 4% of the students reported an injury in the last year, which was related to their studies (Sumilo and Stewart-Brown, 2006). Sane et al. (1997) report a 3-year incidence of 28.7% for a Finnish student population. However, only 0.5% reported accidents on the campus or in the context of their studies. At the same time, current knowledge about stress factors and accident promoting causes in the working world are not easily transferable to student populations because of the different structure of risks (BIBB, 2007, Federal Institute for Occupational Safety, 2007).

The aims of the current study are to provide an estimate of yearly incidence of accidents among university student in Germany using self-reported data, and assess the effects of study year, gender, university type and subject of study on the risk of accident. Furthermore, we aimed at obtaining additional information about circumstances of the accidents in order to identify specific risk situations.

Section snippets

Sample

A multicentre cross-sectional study was conducted in 12 universities and 4 universities of applied sciences in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), Germany in 2006 and 2007. From 14 universities in NRW, one is based on distant learning only and one linked to a specific insurance company, the remaining 12 took part in the study. There are 25 universities of applied science in NRW and four of them were selected randomly. The 12 to 4 ratio was chosen to reflect the proportion of 3:1 among all students

Characteristics of the sample

Fifty-six percent of the sample were female students, the mean age of the students was 23 years (SD = 2.2) and 12.3% of the students were foreign born. There were substantial differences in the samples from different universities in terms of the proportion of female students, first year students, and foreign born students, students with private health insurance and students of parents with a university degree (Table 1). In the samples from applied universities the proportion of foreign born

Discussion

In a multicentre study of students conducted in NRW, Germany we found an average yearly incidence of study-related accidents of 2.6%. The risk of experiencing an accident was similar for female and male students, as well as for students from universities and applied universities, but was substantially higher for sport students. However, also students from other faculties were most likely to experience accidents in connection with a university sports course.

The student accident rate is similar

Conclusions

Given the large discrepancy between officially reported incidence of accidents and incidence estimated in this study, it is to postulate that students should be better informed about the occupational status of their accidents to improve reporting to the statutory accident insurance company. The elevated risk of accidents among sport students is not surprising and is supposedly subject to specific considerations. Nevertheless, also among students from other subject areas the main share of

Conflict of interest

The study was supported by a statutory health insurance company Techniker Krankenkasse and by a regional statutory accident insurance institution Unfallkasse North Rhine-Westphalia, former Landesunfallkasse North Rhine-Westphalia. Both institutions were co-sponsoring the study and provided advice on the questionnaire related to accidents. Unfallkasse North Rhine-Westphalia was a former employer of the first author. None of the sponsors took any role in the interpretation of the data, writing of

Acknowledgments

We thank the statutory insurance company Techniker Krankenkasse, the statutory accidence insurance fund of North Rhine-Westphalia [Unfallkasse NRW; former Landesunfallkasse NRW] and Bielefeld University for making this study possible and the German Social Accident Insurance [Deutsche Gesetzliche Unfallversicherung] for additional information on student accidents.

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