Search

Understanding long-term trends in injury morbidity is critical to prevention and intervention planning. The aim of this study was to assess long-term trends in injury morbidity rates in China from 1993 to 2013. Using data from the National Health Service Survey (NHSS), which is conducted every five years, crude and age-standardized prevalence during the previous two weeks and hospitalization rates in the last 12 months with 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated. The Rao-Scott Chi-square test examined injury morbidity differences across the five survey years by location (urban/rural), sex, age group, and household income. Percent changes in morbidity rate were approximated using logistic regressions. Sampling weights were applied to all analyses. In 2013, crude two-week injury prevalence in China was 0.46% (95% CI: 0.40%, 0.52%) and 12-month crude hospitalization rate was 0.70% (95% CI: 0.63%, 0.77%). Age-standardized injury prevalence increased 31.4% (95% CI: 7.6%, 60.6%) between 1993 and 2013 (29.4%, 95% CI: 6.7%, 56.9% from 1993–2003; 1.6%, 95% CI: -14.8%, 21.0% from 2003–2013), and age-standardized hospitalization rates rose 107.2% (95% CI: 75.1%, 145.2%) from 1993 to 2013 (-9.5%, 95% CI: -24.6%, 8.6% from 1993–2003 and 129.0%, 95% CI: 93.9%, 170.4% from 2003–2013). Subgroup analyses showed similar trends over time. The leading cause of injury was dislocation, sprain or strain for prevalence, and fractures for hospitalization. In conclusion, injury morbidity increased substantially from 1993 to 2013 in China. Inconsistent changes in two-week prevalence and 12-month hospitalization rate merit attention from researchers and policy-makers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Injury is an increasingly important health problem particularly in developing countries like India. Community-based studies are of paramount importance to develop preventive measures. Not many community-based studies have been done to assess the burden and nature of injury in India and the State of Tamil Nadu. Methods: A systematic random sample of households was selected from each of two selected Health sub-centers. All adult members were interviewed with a semi-structured questionnaire to collect information on unintentional injuries in a 30-day recall period. For children below 5 years, a responsible adult member (mostly mother or father) of the family was interviewed. Results: Totally 2216 members were surveyed in 502 households. The overall incidence of unintentional injuries was 9.6 % [95% Confidence Interval (CI): 8.4, 10.9]. Incidence was lowest in 15-44 age-groups and highest in 0-4 age-group (8.7% Vs 12.2%). The incidence was high in male than female (χ²= 10.88; p <0.001). All reported injuries were nonfatal in nature. The common types of injuries were minor injuries, falls, animal and insect bites and traffic injuries. The incidence of minor injuries was high (3.4%) compared to other types like falls (2.9%) and animal bite (1.6%). No injury was reported due to accidental poisoning and drowning. Conclusions: The incidence of unintentional injuries was found to be low in the present study. However, further studies using larger and more representative samples are needed to delineate the problem of unintentional injuries and their risk factors in rural Tamil Nadu. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed at analysing first-time hospitalisations for traumatic brain injury (TBI) and spinal cord injury (SCI) in Western Australia (WA), in terms of socio-demographic profile, cause of injury, relative risks and survival, using tabular and regression analyses of linked hospital discharge and mortality census files and comparing results with published standardised mortality rates (SMRs) for TBI. Participants were all 9,114 first hospital admissions for TBI or SCI from 7/2003 to 6/2008, linked to mortality census data through 12/2008, and the main outcome measures were number of cases by cause, SMRs in hospital and post-discharge by year through year 5. Road crashes accounted for 34 % of hospitalised TBI and 52 % of hospitalised SCI. 8,460 live TBI discharges experienced 580 deaths during 24,494 person-years of follow-up. The life-table expectation of deaths in the cohort was 164. Post-discharge SMRs were 7.66 in year 1, 3.86 in year 2 and averaged 2.31 in years 3 through 5. 317 live SCI discharges experienced 18 deaths during 929 years of follow-up. Post-discharge SMRs were 7.36 in year 1 and a fluctuating average of 2.13 in years 2 through 5. Use of data from model systems does not appear to yield biased SMRs. Similarly no systematic variation was observed between all-age studies and the more numerous studies that focused on those aged 14 to 16 and older. Based on two studies, SMRs for TBI, however, may be higher in year 2 post-discharge in Australia than elsewhere. That possibility and its cause warrant exploration. Expanding public TBI/SCI compensation in WA from road crash to all causes might triple TBI compensation and double SCI compensation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue addressed: This review of injury articles describes how selected primary print media sources in Australia report injury events and exploreshowthismayimpact onpublic perception of the injury risk and the opportunities itmaypresent to health professionals. Methods: Media articles specific to injury, compiled by the Public Health Advocacy Institute of Western Australia (PHAIWA) through their MediaWatch service during 2011, were collated and analysed. Articles were gathered from The West Australian, The Australian and The Sunday Times newspapers and ABC Online. Each article was categorised into injury topics and target groups, and preventive strategies were identified. Results: Of the 546 articles that contained injury as a key word, 424 articles were used for the present study. The majority of articles related to community-based injuries (65%) and the most frequent reported injury was violence and assault. The results also indicate that although there is regular media reporting on injury issues, only one-fifth of reports discuss possible preventive measures. Conclusions: Selected Australian newspapers and the ABC Online are important and low-cost sources of injury-related information for the general public and can impact how the public perceives injury. It is important for public health professionals to embrace media advocacy strategies to assist in influencing and setting local public policy. Sowhat? Public attitudes and understanding of issues are influenced by media coverage. Media monitoring is one tool to track what media sources are reporting about public health issues, the industry and stakeholders. Influencing the quantity and quality of media coverage is critical to advancing healthy public policy, particularly when advocating for prevention strategies to be reported and acted upon. Advocacy is an important health promotion strategy; it is therefore important for health professionals to understand media advocacy and position public health issues as societal issues with policy solutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Background: Data on the epidemiology of trauma in Cameroon are scarce. Presently, hospital records are still used as a primary source of injury data. It has been shown that trauma registries could play a key role in providing basic data on trauma. Our goal is to review the present emergency ward records for completeness of data and provide an overview of injuries in the city of Limbe and the surrounding area in the Southwest Region of Cameroon prior to the institution of a formal registration system. Methods: A retrospective review of Emergency Ward logs in Limbe Hospital was conducted over one year. Records for all patients over 15 years of age were reviewed for 14 data points considered to be essential to a basic trauma registry. Completeness of records was assessed and a descriptive analysis of patterns and trends of trauma was performed. Results: Injury-related conditions represent 27% of all registered admissions in the casualty department. Information on age, sex and mechanism of injury was lacking in 22% of cases. Information on vital signs was present in 2% (respiratory rate) to 12% (blood pressure on admission) of records. Patient disposition (admission, transfer, discharge, or death) was available 42% of the time, whilst location of injury was found in 84% of records. Road traffic injury was the most frequently recorded mechanism (36%), with the type of vehicle specified in 54% and the type of collision in only 22% of cases. Intentional injuries were the second most frequent mechanism at 23%. Conclusion: The frequency of trauma found in this context argues for further prevention and treatment efforts. The institution of a formal registration system will improve the completeness of data and lead to increased ability to evaluate the severity and subsequent public health implications of injury in this region. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]