Citation

Bhatta S, Pant PR, Mytton J. Int. J. Emerg. Med. 2016; 9(1): e21.

Affiliation

Centre for Child and Adolescent Health, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, Holtzbrinck Springer Nature Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1186/s12245-016-0120-9

PMID

27431800

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Injuries are a major public health problem worldwide. Despite increasing morbidity and mortality from injuries in Nepal, it is not recognised in the government's policy and programmes and few population-based studies have been published. This study describes the usefulness of hospital emergency department records to explore access to injury care in Nepal.

METHODS: A retrospective ED-based study was conducted at a governmental hospital in Nepal to review the routinely collected data for 1 year (1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010). The study was designed to provide cross-sectional data to describe the distribution of injuries by age, gender, ethnic group and injury mechanism.

RESULTS: Results showed that twice as many males as females attended the emergency department (14.6 vs. 7.0 per 1000), attendance varied by age with most (39.8 %) attendances in young adults of working age and over half of attendances were from just two ethnic groups (Brahmin (26 %) and Tamang (25.5 %). Road traffic injuries were the most common cause of injury (37.6 %).

CONCLUSIONS: This study therefore showed the feasibility of using routinely collected hospital emergency department data to monitor injury inequalities in Nepal.

Language: en