Patterns, Types, and Outcomes of Head Injury in Aseer Region, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Background. Head injuries contribute to almost 50% of all injuries. Head injuries are still one of the major causes of loss of life and loss of function among young adults. Nowadays, head injury has become a major community problem. Recently, head injury has become one of the biggest issues of almost more than 57 million people in the whole world living with the neurological problem raised by TBI, in which 10 million people require hospital base care. Objectives. To determine the epidemiological aspects of patients with head injury (HI) in Aseer Central Hospital (ACH). Materials and Methods. This is a retrospective cross-sectional study. Data were gathered from patients’ files and the registrar’s database of ACH. The study duration was January 2015–December 2017. All patients with head injury admitted to ACH during the study duration were included in the study. SPSS software was used for analysis. Descriptive statistics were obtained (mean SD frequencies, percentages). Statistical tests, t test, and chi-squared test were applied to measure the significant difference among the variables. P-value less than 0.05 was considered as a significant difference. Results. There were 353 patients with head injury, and the mean ± SD of age was 27.01 ± 13.9. Motor vehicle accidents (MVA) accounted for (89.3%) of head injury. A total of 87.3% of the patients were male while 12.7% were female. Conclusion. In this study, we observed that MVA is the leading cause of brain/head injuries in the KSA, despite the implementations of new speed rules. However, with new regulations of forbidding cell phone use while driving and forcing the seat belt regulations, a major impact on these numbers is expected in the future. Thus, a future study is recommended to assess these expectations.

Patterns of Associated Injuries in Patients with Mild/Moderate Head Injuries

“…Injuries located higher up in the spine are especially associated with high odds of mortality given the already established possible reasons-they play a great role in the maintenance of the cardiorespiratory functions. This pattern was also documented by Alnaami et al [42].…”

Pattern and Outcomes of Injuries among Trauma Patients in Gedeo Zone, Dilla, South Ethiopia: A 5 Years Retrospective Analysis

“…Injury has become a life-threatening community health problem associated with significant mortality and morbidity worldwide (1,2,(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). According to the World Health Organization (WHO) injury and violence surveillance, more than 5 million people die per year due to injury which accounts for 9% of the world's deaths (19).…”

Comment on: Patterns of cervical spine injuries in adults at a major trauma center in Saudi Arabia

“…We hope that our results are used as a reference for future reports, advocate for implementing more preventive measures, and contribute to building community-based programs on this major health issue in our community. Alnaami et al 11 retrospectively investigated the epidemiological aspects of traumatic brain injuries in Saudi Arabia. In their study, MVA accounted for the majority of head injuries in spite of the implementation of traffic rules.…”

“…In their study, MVA accounted for the majority of head injuries in spite of the implementation of traffic rules. 11 The authors advocated the importance of assessing traumatic brain injury after the implementation of new governmental rules and regulations, namely, forced seat belt wearing and probation of cell phone usage while driving. 11 Additionally, Al-Habib et al 12 retrospectively reviewed the descriptive features of traumatic brain injury in Saudi Arabia.…”

“… 11 The authors advocated the importance of assessing traumatic brain injury after the implementation of new governmental rules and regulations, namely, forced seat belt wearing and probation of cell phone usage while driving. 11 Additionally, Al-Habib et al 12 retrospectively reviewed the descriptive features of traumatic brain injury in Saudi Arabia. Similar to the previous studies, road traffic accidents, followed by pedestrian injuries, were the most frequent causes of hospitalization as well as injury-related mortality.…”