Objective: To understand the epidemiological characteristics of product harm cases in 32 hospitals in 11 areas in China from 2012 to 2014 and provide the basic data to support for product-specific survey, product harm early warning and the assessment of product safety.
Methods: The descriptive epidemiologic analysis was conducted by using the surveillance data of product harm collected from 32 hospitals in 11 areas in China during 2012-2014.
Results: A total of 208 784 product harm cases were reported in the 32 hospitals during 2012-2014, accounting for 19.50% of total harm cases during the same period. A total of 222 401 cases (times) of product harm were reported. For all the product harms, the top five products causing harms were transportation equipment except motor vehicle (36.55%), motor vehicle (21.50%), other products (20.84%), furniture (7.21%) and food, medicine and related products (5.18%). Both the case number and times of product harm were higher in males than in females. Males aged 25-44 years might be at greater risk for product harm. Most product harms, i.e. bruise, were caused by blunt force on heads.
Conclusions: The epidemiologic characteristics of product harm varied with products. It is necessary to take targeted intervention measures to prevent product harm.