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Table 1 List of variables and operational definitions

From: Risk factors for upper limb fractures due to unintentional injuries among adolescents: a case control study from Sri Lanka

Term

Definition used in the study

Social class

Social class was determined by father’s occupation according to the following categorization [16, 21]:

Social class 1—Leading professions (Professional and Managerial)

Social class 11—Lesser professions (Teacher, nurse)

Social class 111—Skilled workers and non-manual workers (Armed forces, Police, Clerks, Shop keepers)

Social class 1 V- Partly skilled workers (Farmer, Estate worker, Skilled laborer)

Social class V – Unskilled workers—Elementary occupation

High social class—Combination of social class I and II

Low social class – Combination of social class III, IV and V

Standard of living index

This was based on the standards related to the demographic & socioeconomic characteristics of a household’s formats described by Ayed et. al., [22] carried out in demographic and health survey comparative studies. It was modified to local setting and used in recent studies [23]. The adolescents’ housing conditions, basic utilities and the ownership of electrical items and vehicles were considered. E.g.: When assessing the ownership of the house, two marks were given if the house is owned by adolescent’s parents or caregiver, one mark was given if the house was rented and zero mark was given if they lived in someone else’s house. The following amenities and utilities were also assessed:

Availability of electricity and the ownership of number and type of electrical appliances

Availability of a vehicle and the ownership of number and type of the vehicle

Type of toilet facilities

Type of water source

Material used to build walls and floor of the house

Permanent resident

Adolescent residing for one-year period in the same Grama Niladhari division in the district of Colombo

Adolescent

Age 10–19 years old children

Newly diagnosed

A person who is diagnosed for the first time with documentary evidence and radiological investigation to have upper limb fracture within one week following an injury

Care giver

A person who provides ongoing care and assistance without any payment for a family member or a friend who needs support due to physical, cognitive or mental health condition

Unintentional injury

The events caused without the intention of any person / party/ group or community and those are not inflicted by deliberate means

Major hospitals

All secondary and tertiary care hospitals where specialists in Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery and X ray investigations were available

Road traffic accidents

Any accident occurred due to involvement of a vehicle during any mode of transportation involving land transport accidents such as avenues, streets, roads, highways, express way, air transport accidents, and water transport accidents. The victim may either be the vehicle occupant or others exposed to accident

Physical activity

Any bodily movement produced by skeletal muscles that requires energy expenditure [22] Light activities such as a person can talk and sing and the heart beat slightly faster than normal. Mild activities such as a person can talk but cannot sing and the heart beat faster than normal, heavy intensity is a person cannot talk or his/her talking is broken by large breaths and his/her heart rate increases a lot

Physical exercise

Physical exercise is a subcategory of physical activity that is planned, structured, repetitive and purposeful in the sense that the improvement or maintenance of one or more components of physical fitness is the objective. Physical activity includes exercise as well as other activities which involve bodily movement and are done as part of playing, working, active transportation, house chores and recreational activities [22]

Sport

An activity involving physical exertion, skill and/or hand–eye coordination as the primary focus of the activity with elements of competition where rules and patterns of behavior governing the activity exist formally through organizations

Watching television

Watching television less than 1 h/ 1–2 h/ more than 3 h per day in a week day and in weekends separately

Grama Niladhari Division

An administrative area to carry out the assigned duties of central government at divisional level. A Grama Niladhari (Village Officer) is appointed by the central government to carry out administrative duties