Surveillance of Injury in a Tertiary Care Hospital of North India: A Hospital Based Study
Munesh Kumar Sharma
Department of Community Medicine, Government Medical College Hospital, Chandigarh, India
Neeraj Gour *
Departmentof Community Medicine, Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot Punjab, India.
Raj Bahadur
Department of Orthopedics, Post Gradute Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India.
Dhiraj Srivastava
Department of Community Medicine, Rural Institute of Medical Sciences and Research, Safai, Etawah, India.
Sanjay Chaudhary
Departmentof Community Medicine, Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot Punjab, India.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Introduction: Injury is a major, preventable public health problem in terms of morbidity, premature mortality or disability. This study aims to assess the epidemiology of injury in patients admitted to a tertiary care centre in northern India.
Materials and Methods: Observational, Descriptive, secondary data based study of injury patients admitted in surgical emergency department of Government Medical College Hospital Chandigarh from July 2009 to June 2010.
Results: Out of these total 7222 patients, 4129(57.2%) were of Road Traffic Accident (RTA) and 22.8% were of Assault. Male were at high risk of RTA. Although, overall males were at higher risk of assault but middle aged women were at higher risk than their counterparts. For ‘fall ‘females were at high risk. Assault cases were more prevalent during summer, while RTA cases were more prevalent during winter season and fall during rainy season were reportedly more. Majority (33.0%) of RTA injury was in the age group of 20-39 years(most productive age) and in the age group of <10 years falls were most common (56.0% of all injury).
Keywords: Injury, Chandigarh, seasonal trend.