Introduction:
Injuries are a leading cause of death and disability among children. The majority of unintentional injuries continue to happen to children living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) in Eastern Europe.

Objectives:
This research aims to describe injuries that occurred to children and adolescents between 0 and 17, from three LMICs (Armenia, Georgia, Republic of Moldova) using a hospital-based injury registry.

Methods:
The iCREATE Injury Registry was, in 2018, piloted in 7 hospitals from Armenia, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, containing 13,082 patient records, out of which 12,958 were included in the final analysis. The registry used WHO Recommendations, ICD-10, IDB-JAMIE Project and Iowa Emergency Unit Registry as core examples. Data containing patient demographics, injury characteristics, outcomes, and five additional modules were collected, including road traffic injuries.

Results:
Out of 12,958 patients treated and recorded in 7 hospitals from Armenia, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, 15.6% (n=2014) were aged between 0-17. For this age group, 95% (n=1913) of injuries were unintentional, with some small exceptions (3-5 cases) for children and teens where assaults or intentional self-harm were recorded, and 41% of all injuries took place at home (n=825). The leading mechanism of injury was falls, accounting for almost half of all injuries (46.9%, n=944), followed by cut/pierce 7.3% (n=147), and road traffic injuries 5.4% (n=108). 43.7% of all children were admitted to the hospital for further treatment. Compared to infants, toddlers (OR: 0.446, % CI 0.169-1.175), children (OR: 0.561, 95% CI 0.230-1.370) and teens (0.434, 95% CI 0.173-1.085) were less likely to be admitted to the hospital. Conclusion: Data collected using registries have important value in determining the causes and circumstances in which children are injured. More actions and programs should be targeted at preventing home injuries in children, whilst more resources should focus on better-documenting road traffic injuries in health care settings. This study provides valuable insights into the epidemiology of injuries among children and adolescents in Armenia, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova. The relatively high rate of hospital admission underscores the need for effective and appropriate medical care for injured children and adolescents. Overall, this study serves as a reminder of the need for continued efforts to prevent and manage injuries in this vulnerable population.

Keywords: injury registry, hospital data, falls, pediatric injuries.

Other info:  Dulf Diana 1, Marga Patricia 1, Tadevosyan Artashes 2, Chikhladze Nino 3, Cebanu Serghei 4 , Peek-Asa Corinne 5 1 Babes-Bolyai University, Cluj-Napoca, Romania 2 Yerevan State Medical University, Yerevan, Armenia 3 Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia 4 Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova 5 University of California, San Diego, United States of America