|
|
|
Indian Pediatr 2009;46: 43 9 |
 |
Magnitude of Unintentional Injuries: Record
Based Hospital Study |
|
*Sandeep Sachdeva and Saroj Menon,
National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, and
*Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,
Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi 110 008, India.
E-mail:
[email protected]
|
|
Abstract
Unintentional injuries accounted for 43% of
adolescents (1091/2545) reporting to the emergency department of a
tertiary care hospital in Delhi over 3 months.
Keywords: Adolescent, Injury, Unintentional.
|
|
G lobally,
non-communicable diseases including injuries are on the increase both in
terms of morbidity and mortality with 16,000 deaths being reported daily.
Injuries represent 12% of the global burden of disease, the third most
important cause of overall mortality and the main cause of death among
1-40 year age groups(1). A retrospective record based hospital study was
carried to determine the magnitude of unintentional injuries with a focus
on adolescents reporting to Accident & Emergency [A & E] department of
Safdarjung Hospital, a tertiary-care hospital in Delhi after obtaining
permission from competent authority. Using simple random technique on the
draw of numbers three months were identified i.e. February, May and
September and all cases during these months with unintentional injuries
were extracted from the master register and results were then analyzed by
calculating percentages.
TABLE I
Unintentional Injuries in Patients Reporting to Accident and Emergency Department
|
Month |
Total |
Total |
Percentage |
Patients with |
Percentage |
Adolescents |
Percentage |
Percentage |
| |
patients |
adolescents |
[%] (b/a) |
unintentional |
[%] (c/a) |
[10-19 years] |
[%] (d/b) |
[%] (d/c) |
| |
reporting |
[10-19 years] |
|
injury (c) |
|
with |
|
|
| |
due to all |
reporting due |
|
|
|
unintentional |
|
|
| |
causes(a) |
to all causes(b) |
|
|
|
injury (d) |
|
|
| Feb |
12,449 |
1,685 |
13.53 |
4,418 |
35.48 |
946 |
56.14 |
21.41 |
| May |
19,720 |
2,590 |
13.13 |
5,852 |
29.67 |
1,241 |
47.91 |
21.20 |
| Sep |
21,069 |
3,361 |
15.95 |
5,054 |
23.98 |
1,086 |
32.31 |
21.48 |
| Avg./
month |
17,746 |
2,545 |
14.34 |
5,108 |
28.76 |
1,091 |
42.86 |
21.35 |
*Excluding Obstetric & Gynecology, and Burn cases
|
It was observed that on an average 17,746 patients
reported due to all causes to emergency department hospital in a month, as
shown in Table I. Out of these on an average 5108 (28.7 %)
reported with unintentional injury/month. With regard to adolescent [10-19
years], 2545 cases reported per month to A & E department with 1091
[42.86%] reporting due to unintentional injury. The figure was maximum,
56.14 % in the month of February and lowest in September (32.31%). Similar
downward trend was observed for all age group during these months. The
proportion of adolescent who reported to A & E due to all causes was
14.34% whereas proportion of unintentional injury amongst adolescent in
comparison to all age group was higher i.e. 21.35%. Amongst patients of
all age group, nearly 29 % of cases whereas amongst adolescent nearly 43%
of cases reported with unintentional injures. To conclude, this
study reflects high magnitude of unintentional injuries in a tertiary care
hospital especially during adolescent age group.
Reference
1. Peden M, McGee K, Sharma G. The injury chart book: a graphical
overview of the global burden of injuries. Geneva: World Health
Organization; 2002. |
|
|
 |
|
