Global childhood unintentional injury surveillance in four cities in developing countries: a pilot study

Abstract

Objective To determine the frequency and nature of childhood injuries and to explore the risk factors for such injuries in low-income countries by using emergency department (ED) surveillance data. Methods This pilot study represents the initial phase of a multi-country global childhood unintentional injury surveillance (GCUIS) project and was based on a sequential sample of children < 11 years of age of either gender who presented to selected EDs in Bangladesh, Colombia, Egypt and Pakistan over a 3-4 month period, which varied for each site, in 2007. Findings Of 1559 injured children across all sites, 1010 (65%) were male; 941 (60%) were aged ³ 5 years, 32 (2%) were < 1 year old. Injuries were especially frequent (34%) during the morning hours. They occurred in and around the home in 56% of the cases, outside while children played in 63% and during trips in 11%. Of all the injuries observed, 913 (56%) involved falls; 350 (22%), road traffic injuries; 210 (13%), burns; 66 (4%), poisoning; and 20 (1%), near drowning or drowning. Falls occurred most often from stairs or ladders; road traffic injuries most often involved pedestrians; the majority of burns were from hot liquids; poisonings typically involved medicines, and most drowning occurred in the home. The mean injury severity score was highest for near drowning or drowning (11), followed closely by road traffic injuries (10). There were 6 deaths, of which 2 resulted from drowning, 2 from falls and 2 from road traffic injuries. Conclusion Hospitals in low-income countries bear a substantial burden of childhood injuries, and systematic surveillance is required to identify the epidemiological distribution of such injuries and understand their risk factors. Methodological standardization for surveillance across countries makes it possible to draw international comparisons and identify common issues.Une traduction en français de ce résumé figure à la fin de l'article. Al final del artículo se facilita una traducción al español. ‫املقالة.‬ ‫لهذه‬ ‫الكامل‬ ‫النص‬ ‫نهاية‬ ‫يف‬ ‫الخالصة‬ ‫لهذه‬ ‫العربية‬ ‫الرتجمة‬

Road Traffic Injuries and Data Systems in Egypt: Addressing the Challenges

“…Neither publication year nor language restrictions were applied. Day et al 2010;El Din 2006El Islam 1974;El-Zawahary 1967;Hamam and El Sayed 1999;Hammam 1968;Hassan et al 2010;Hyder 2009;Jacobs and Sayer 1982;Rady 1997;Sakr et al 2006;Smith and Barss 1991;Wintemute 1984Wintemute , 1985. Only studies pertaining to Egypt and road traffic injuries were included.…”

Analysis of Prospective Trauma Registry Data in Francophone Africa: A Pilot Study from Cameroon

“…Patients were interviewed using a structured questionnaire, based previous work done in lower income settings [18][19][20][21]. Data on demographic information, details of the injury context, clinical presentation, care, and disposition from the ED were gathered.…”

Characteristics and injury severity score of childhood injuries at Emergency Department of Suez Canal University Hospital

“…Study tool: The tool in the study was Global Childhood Injury Surveillance Instrument (interview questionnaire) to interview the parents or guardians arriving with injured children [13]. The intent of the forms was to describe: the size and characteristics of injuries; the population at risk; the risk factors; and the trends in time and space.The questionnaire included: age, gender, education level, occupation, intent, and place of occurrence, mechanism, nature of injury, seat belt/helmet usage, date/time of injury and residence.…”