Incidence, causes and severity of injuries in Aquitaine, France: a community-based study of hospital admissions and deaths.

This paper reports the results of a study of injuries conducted during a one-year period within a defined geographic population of 2.7 million persons (Aquitaine, France). Cases were defined as unintentional or intentional injuries, either resulting in immediate death before reaching hospital or requiring hospital admission. During the one-year period, 1,181 deaths were registered and 8,190 hospital admissions occurred during the sample periods. The three leading causes of injury were falls (40 per cent), traffic accidents (27 per cent), and poisonings (15 per cent). The overall incidence of injuries was 136 per 10,000 person years. Incidence by sex and age was assessed for the main external causes. The ratios of nonfatal to fatal cases were calculated by sex and age and by external cause. The origin of the injury was suicide in 14 per cent of cases and assault or homicide in 3 per cent. The severity of injuries, assessed using an automatic computation of the Injury Severity Score (ISS), ranged from 1 to 66 with a mean of 6.9. Substantial variations of ISS were observed according to external cause. At the 8th day following admission, 31 per cent of hospital-treated patients were still hospitalized and 0.8 per cent had died in hospital. The outcome correlated well with the ISS.     

The incidence of injuries among 87,000 Massachusetts children and adolescents: results of the 1980-81 Statewide Childhood Injury Prevention Program Surveillance System

This study describes the incidence of fatal and nonfatal injuries occurring in 87,022 Massachusetts children and adolescents during a one-year period. A surveillance system for injuries at 23 hospitals captured 93 per cent of all discharges for ages 0-19 in the 14 communities under study. Sample data were collected on emergency room visits, hospital admissions, and deaths for all but a few causes of unintentional injuries. The overall incidence was 2,239 per 10,000. The true incidence rates are probably higher than those reported. The ratio of emergency room visits to admissions to deaths was 1,300 to 45 to 1. Injury rates varied considerably by age, sex, cause, and level of severity. Age-specific injury rates were lowest for infants and elementary school age children and highest for toddlers and adolescents. The overall ratio of male to female injury rates was 1.66 to 1. Injuries from falls, sports, and cutting and piercing instruments had a high incidence and low severity. Injuries from motor vehicles, burns, and drownings had lower incidence, but greater severity. Results provide evidence that both morbidity and mortality must be considered when determining priorities for injury prevention. Current prevention efforts must be expanded to target injuries of higher incidence and within the adolescent population.     

The epidemiology of severe injuries to children in northern Manhattan: methods and incidence rates

The epidemiology of injury incidence in inner-city children has not previously been described. This study presents the methods used and the incidence rates found for severe injury (causing hospitalisation or death) in a population of 89,000 children under age 17 years in northern Manhattan, a largely poor area of New York City. The average annual incidence rate (measured from 1983 to 1987) for severe injuries to children under 17 was 846/100,000 a year. The vast majority (79%) were classified as unintentional. Nine per cent were due to assault, 3% were self-inflicted and in an additional 9% the intention was unclear. Classified by cause, the highest incidence (per 100,000/year) was found for falls (218), vehicle-related (141, primarily pedestrian), ingestion (119) and burns (110). Guns caused 3% of the injuries (27). The death rate from injury was 18.7/100,000, 36% of which was due to homicide. In an additional 28%, intentional injury was suspected. The suicide rate was 0.4/100,000. The leading causes of injury death included guns and burns (both 2.7/100,000). Compared with childhood injury rates in predominantly rural and suburban populations, the rates reported here for northern Manhattan are higher for overall injury incidence (fatal and non-fatal) and for homicide, but lower for injury mortality not due to homicide.     

Trends in public hospital injury admission rates, Victoria, July 1987 to June 1993

Abstract: Admissions to Victorian public hospitals because of injury for the six years from July 1987 to June 1993 were analysed to ascertain the frequencies, rates and trends over time in rates. This information is important for epidemiological purposes, to determine priorities for injury prevention and, as baseline data, to monitor the success of interventions. The major causes of injury, and their rates, did not change markedly. Falls or transport-related injuries were still the major cause of hospitalisation. The mean annual all-age frequency over the six years was 67 902, an all-age, all-cause rate of 1620 per 100 000. The highest frequencies of injury occurred in the young age groups, 15–19, 20–24 and 25–29 years, but the highest rates occurred in the over-60 age groups. The all-age, all-cause injury rate increased significantly at 39 per 100 000 per year (2.4 per cent per year), notwithstanding the decreasing rate of transport-related injury of 17 per 100 000 per year (7.5 per cent). Significant increases were also observed for injuries from falls in all age groups and intentional self-inflicted injuries. For the 15–24 years age group, transport-related injury rates declined by 35 per 100 000 per annum but intentional injury rates were increasing. In the over-65 years age group, rates of injury from falls were increasing by 3.3 per cent per annum. The benefits of investment in prevention of transport-related injury are apparent. With high rates, frequencies and increases over time for many injury causes, similar resources for prevention of other causes of injury are justified and necessary.     

Motor vehicle trauma in northeastern Ohio. I: Incidence and outcome by age, sex, and road-use category

Hospital emergency department visits for motor vehicle trauma occurring in a midwestern metropolitan region (Cleveland and Lorain-Elyria, Ohio Standard Metropolitan Statistical Areas; 2.2 million population) were analyzed to determine the incidence and outcome by age, sex, and road-use category. A 50% incidence sample (n = 20,752) of motor vehicle trauma events to residents of this region was identified from the emergency department records of 41 participating hospitals for a one-year period, 1977. These hospitals accounted for 98% of all emergency department cases in the region. The annual motor vehicle trauma incidence rate per 100,000 population was 1,871. The highest annual incidence rate (4,462) was for ages 20-24; the lowest rates were for infants under one year (837) and for the elderly over 74 years (667). Incidence rate rank-ordered road-use categories were as follows: passenger car occupant, motorized cycle rider, other enclosed vehicle occupant, pedestrian, and pedal cyclist. Above age 4, age-specific male incidence rates significantly exceeded female incidence rates for most road-use categories. There were 80 admissions and 7 fatalities per 1,000 motor vehicle trauma incidence cases. Case-admission ratios were highest for pedestrians (266), riders of motorized cycles (184), and pedal cyclists (115); they were lowest for occupants of partially or fully enclosed vehicles (65). Case-fatality ratios per 1,000 cases were also highest for pedestrians (43) and riders of motorized cycles (11). Male case-fatality ratios exceeded female ratios for each road-use category in nearly all age groups, and male case-admission ratios exceeded those for females ages 10-54. For ages 75 and over, the admission ratios and fatality ratios were nearly twice as high as in any other age group.     

Residential injuries in U.S. children and adolescents

OBJECTIVES: Injuries are the leading cause of death and disability for U.S. children, but little research exists on injury in the home environment. The purpose of this study was to estimate the rate and severity of and trends in unintentional residential injury for U.S. children <20 years for 1993-1999. METHODS: Data on emergency department (ED) visits were obtained from the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). Rates and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using SUDAAN. Chi-square analysis was used to test for differences among proportions. Time trends were analyzed using linear regression. RESULTS: Residential injuries accounted for an average of 4.01 million (95% CI 3.50 million, 4.56 million) ED visits each year for U.S. children, representing 39% of unintentional injury ED visits. There were an average of 531,000 (95% CI 456,000, 606,000) visits with moderate-to-severe injuries, resulting in 73,680 (95% CI 59,715, 87,645) hospital admissions annually. The rate of residential injury visits (excluding unknown locations) was 5.6 per 100 (95% CI 4.9 per 100, 6.4 per 100). The visit rates for children <5 years of age were higher than those for children >9 years (p<0.0001). Males had a higher rate of visits than females (p=0.01). Falls were the leading mechanisms, resulting in 1.5 million ED visits per year (95% CI 1.3 million, 1.8 million). Residential injury rates decreased by 28% over time (p<0.02), from 6.3 per 100 (95% CI 3.4, 9.2) in 1993 to 4.5 per 100 (95% CI 2.3, 6.7) in 1999. CONCLUSIONS: The predominant location of injury for U.S. children is the home, accounting for 4.01 million ED visits and more than 70,000 hospitalizations each year. Efforts targeted to the home environment are needed to reduce morbidity and mortality from unintentional injury in U.S. children.     

Adult Sexual Assault Evaluations at Rhode Island Emergency Departments, 1995–2001

The objectives of this study were to estimate the incidence and identify the temporal patterns of visits to Rhode Island emergency departments (EDs) by adults who were sexually assaulted. Visits to all Rhode Island EDs from January 1995–June 2001 by adults who were sexually assaulted were identified using International Classification of Disease, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9) codes. Medical records of these visits were reviewed. Frequency distributions of the assault characteristics and patient demographics were generated. Incidence rates (IRs) of ED visits after sexual assault were estimated using 2000 US Census data. Analyses of the temporal patterns of the ED visits after sexual assault were conducted. Of the 823 ED visits, 796 (96.7%) were by females and 27 (3.3%) were by males. The median age for females was 25 years (range, 18–96 years) and was 28 years (range, 18–87 years) for males. Among the female patients, 76.6% sustained a vaginal/anal assault. Among the male patients, 59.3% sustained an anal assault. The average annual IR of ED visits after sexual assault was 30.3/100,000/year for females and 1.2/100,000/year for males, which is a 25-fold greater incidence of these visits for females than males. ED visits after adult sexual assault were more frequent during warmer months and around 5 p.m. There was a gradual 43% increase in the IRs of ED visits after sexual assault over the 6.5-year period. These findings should help direct EDs to maximize supportive services when they are needed most often.     

Population-based study of emergency department admissions and deaths from injuries in Barcelona,Spain: Incidence,causes and severity

The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of morbidity and mortality due to injuries in the population over the age of 14 years in Barcelona, Spain. Injury distribution according to sex, age, external cause, place of occurrence of the injury and severity was also obtained. A one-year survey was conducted in the emergency departments of the six main hospitals in Barcelona, based on a multistage sampling. Information was collected prospectively in emergency services by specially trained non-staff interviewers. Mortality data were drawn from death certificates. The incidence rate was 74.7 injury cases per 1,000 person-years over 14 years of age, higher in males than in females. Injury rates were highest in the youngest age-group and progressively lower until people over 75 years of age. Main external causes of injury were falls, being struck or caught by objects, and traffic-related injuries. The leading specific causes of injury mortality were traffic injuries, suicides and poisonings. While the overall admission incidence was 3.34 cases per 1,000 inhabitants, the proportion of hospitalized cases was 45.0 per 1,000 injury cases admitted to emergency rooms, higher for females, for traffic injuries and in the elderly population. Ninety-six percent of injury cases had an ISS value of 8 or less, mean ISS being highest for traffic injuries and falls. Injury morbidity and mortality amongst residents of Barcelona follow sex, age and cause of injury patterns which are, overall, comparable to those observed in other industrialized countries, suggesting that similar etiologic factors might be operating in those areas. The results should enable the orientation of injury prevention policies in the urban environment targeted on the young and the elderly population.     

Frequency of emergency department attendances as a predictor of mortality: nine-year follow-up of a population-based cohort

Heavy users of the services of emergency departments (EDs) have in previous studies been found to have psychological, social, economic and other difficulties besides their more or less acute medical problems. In order to establish whether mortality is associated with high ED use, a nine-year follow-up study was conducted of a 10 per cent population sample (n = 17,000), selected from the catchment area of Huddinge Hospital, Sweden. ED visits were found to predict nine-year mortality in the cohort. The group of individuals who had made four or more ED visits during a period of 15 months prior to follow-up (heavy ED users) had a two-fold excess mortality (95 per cent confidence interval (CI) = 1.9-2.1), those who had made one to three ED visits (moderate ED users) had a slightly elevated mortality (standardized mortality ratio SMR = 1.1, 95 per cent CI = 1.0-1.3), while the SMR of the non-users was 0.9 (95 per cent CI = 0.8-1.0). The three predominant causes of death in the cohort were diseases in the circulatory system, tumours and violent death. Heavy ED users had elevated mortality in all diagnoses, the most important excess mortality being from violent death, comprising suicide, probable suicide and alcohol/drug abuse, with an SMR of 6.3 (95 per cent CI = 6.0-6.7). The excess mortality from these causes of the heavy ED users accounted for more than one-third of their total excess mortality.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)     

Risk factors for physical assault. State-managed workers' compensation experience

BACKGROUND: The estimation of incidence and evaluation of risk factors associated with nonfatal occupational assault injuries have rarely been documented in a statewide population context. A state-managed workers' compensation system can provide estimates of incidence of such injuries and allow evaluation of risk factors. METHODS: Using claims data from the state-managed West Virginia Workers' Compensation, the incidence rates of workplace injuries resulting from physical assault were estimated for the period 1997-1999. Data on potential risk factors were obtained from the claim-related electronic data files, and the risk associated with each factor was assessed using proportional injury ratios (PIRs). RESULTS: During the study period, 2122 compensated injuries were associated with workplace violence. The incidence of assault injuries was 108.2 cases per 100,000 employee years. Women sustained a higher incidence than men. Healthcare workers, public safety workers, and teachers accounted for almost 75% of all assault injuries. Workers in these occupations also differed from each other with regard to seasonality and timing of assault, perpetrator-victim relationship, and types of injury. Evidence of gender-occupation interaction indicated higher risk of assault injury in men compared to women across the three leading occupations. Nighttime work shifts were associated with greater risk of assault for female healthcare workers (PIR=1.8; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-2.87). CONCLUSIONS: The healthcare sector sustained the bulk of assault injuries in West Virginia. Although the majority of healthcare-sector employees were women, the risk of assault injuries was higher in male employees. Risk factors and injury characteristics identified in this study, particularly for three high-risk occupations, should help develop strategies for preventing workplace violence. Protecting female healthcare workers on night-shift duty, especially in nursing home settings, appears to be an important target for intervention.     

中国五岁以下儿童非致死性伤害发生率及影响因素研究

目的 了解中国5岁以下儿童非致死性伤害的发生率及相关影响因素.方法 数据来自于第四次国家卫生服务调查,其中5岁以下儿童10 819名,为本次研究对象.伤害相关内容:是否发生伤害以及发生次数、原因、地点、严重程度.采用两水平Poisson回归分析社会经济学变量与非致死性伤害发生次数的关联性.结果 最近12个月内5岁以下儿童非致死性伤害发生率为16.0%o.＜1岁组儿童非致死性伤害前3位原因是:跌倒、动物咬伤、烧伤/烫伤,发生率分别为3.9%o、1.8%o和1.8%o;1～4岁组儿童是:动物咬伤、跌倒、烧伤/烫伤,发生率分别为6.5‰、6.0‰和2.9‰.两年龄组儿童分别有83.0%和69.0%的最近一次伤害发生在家里.＜1岁组无残疾发生,1～4岁组伤害致残疾率为1.0%.控制其他变量后,1～4岁组中男童非致死性伤害风险是女童的1.57倍(P＜0.05);民族、家庭人均收入和地区等变量差异无统计学意义(P＞0.05);＜1岁组在全部社会经济学变量上的统计检验结果均无统计学意义(P＞0.05).结论 中国5岁以下儿童最近12个月非致死性伤害发生率为16.0%o;动物咬伤、跌倒、烧伤/烫伤是非致死性伤害的前三位原因;家庭内是非致死性伤害最常见地点;1～4岁男童非致死性伤害发生率明显高于女童.

Abstract：

Objective To determine the incidence of non-fatal injuries and related influencing factors among children under 5 years old in China. Methods Data involving 10 819 children under 5 years old was from the Fourth National Health Service Survey of China. Injury-related indicators include: history of ever having had an injury, its frequency, cause, location and severity of the injury.A two-level Poissun regression was used to examine the significance of related socio-economic variables. Results The overall incidence rate of nonfatal injuries among children under 5 years old was 16.0 per 1000 population in the prior 12 months. The first three leading causes of non-fatal injuries were falls,animal bite, fire/bum among children under 1 year old,with the rates as 3.9, 1.8 and 1.8 per 1000 population, respectively. For children aged I to 4 years old, the first three leading causes were animal bite, fall, fire/burn with rates as 6.5,6.0 and 2.9 per 1000 population, respectively. 83.0% and 69.0% of last injuries occurred at home for the above said two age groups. No disability was found among children younger than 1 year old who suffered from a nonfatal injury while for the 1-4 age group, the disability accounted for 1.0% of injury-induced outcomes. After adjusting other variables,boys had 1.57 times the risk of injury compared with girls in the 1-4 age group (P＜0.05). The differences on the effects regarding ethmicity,per capita household income, and place were insignificant (P＞0.05). None of the socio-economic variables was found that significantly related to the non-fatal injury risk among children under 1 year old (P＞0.05). Conclusion The incidence of nonfatal injuries among children under 5 years old was 16.0 per 1000 population in the prior 12 months. The three leading causes of injuries were animal bite, falls, fire/bum respectively. Home was the most common place that non-fatal injuries occurred. Boys had a higher risk of injury compared with girls among children aged 1 to 4 years old and the difference was significant.     

National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 1998 emergency department summary

OBJECTIVES: This report describes ambulatory care visits to hospital emergency departments in the United States. Statistics are presented on selected patient and visit characteristics. METHODS: The data presented in this report were collected from the 1998 National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey (NHAMCS). NHAMCS is part of the ambulatory care component of the National Health Care Survey that measures health care utilization across various types of providers. NHAMCS is a national probability survey of visits to hospital emergency and outpatient departments of non-Federal, short-stay, and general hospitals in the United States. Sample data are weighted to produce annual national estimates. RESULTS: During 1998, an estimated 100.4 million visits were made to hospital emergency departments (ED's) in the United States, about 37.3 visits per 100 persons. Persons 75 years and over had the highest rate of ED visits. There were an estimated 37.1 million injury-related ED visits during 1998, or 13.8 visits per 100 persons. Seventy-four percent of injury-related ED visits were made by persons under 45 years of age. Injury visit rates were higher for males than females in each age group under 45 years. According to ICD-9-CM classification, 77.2 percent of injury visits were unintentional. About 71 percent of the ED visits involved medication therapy, with pain relief drugs accounting for 31.5 percent of the medications mentioned. Acute upper respiratory infection was the leading illness-related diagnosis at ED visits.     

Female homicides in United States workplaces, 1980-1985.

BACKGROUND: Women, while noted for low occupational injury mortality rates, are more likely to die as victims of assault than from any other manner of injury at work. METHODS: From the National Traumatic Occupational Fatality surveillance data, 950 women were identified who were fatally assaulted at work. Homicide rates were calculated for the demographic and employment characteristics of these women. Risk ratios among types of lethal injuries were examined. RESULTS: During 1980-1985, the crude six-year workplace homicide rate was 4.0 deaths per million working women: one twentieth the homicide rate of the US female population. Decedents ranged from 16 years (the lowest age included in the data base) to 93 years of age. Working women older than 65 years had the highest age-specific homicide rate, 11.3 per million. Women younger than 20 had the lowest, 2.5 per million per year. Homicide rates for women of races other than White were nearly twice as high as those of Whites. The leading causes of death were gunshot wounds (64 percent), stabbings (19 percent), asphyxiations (7 percent), and blunt force trauma (6 percent). Nearly 43 percent of the deceased women had been employed in retail trade: 8.7 per million employed women annually. CONCLUSIONS: During 1980-1985, only 6 percent of the nation's victims of work-related injury deaths were female: 41 percent of those women were murdered. Homicide is currently the leading manner of traumatic workplace death among women in the United States.     

Quantifying the iceberg effect for injury: using comprehensive community health data

BACKGROUND: Injury is the leading cause of preventable morbidity and mortality in Canada. The "ice berg" effect in injuries was proposed to address the injury statistics that are often poorly documented. The aim of this investigation was to quantify the severity and magnitude of iceberg effect in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: Data from Vital Statistics (1999, mortality), Canadian Institute for Health Information (2001, hospitalizations), Census (2001, demographic information), National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (2001, emergency department visits), and the Canadian Community Health Survey (2000/01, other injuries) were used to construct the Ontario injury iceberg for ages 12 years and older. RESULTS: There were 79,577 fatalities in Ontario in 1999; 2,645 were attributable to injuries (crude rate: 2.3 per 10,000). Of the 913,540 hospitalizations (2001), 67,301 were caused by injuries. There were 3,520,253 emergency department (ED) visits (2001) and 959,278 were attributable to injuries. For injuries treated elsewhere, the most common treatment site was the physician's office (23.3%). The most common cause of injuries (CCHS) was falls (37.4%) and exertion/movement (20.5%). There were 1,928,000 injuries causing functional impairment (one injury to five individuals in the population). INTERPRETATION The high ratio of injury-related ED visits to deaths illustrated the high volume of injuries that present to the ED. The ratio of injuries resulting in functional impairment to the population demonstrates.that such injuries can be problematic, even if not resulting in hospitalization. Constructing the injury iceberg using valid data should assist researchers and decision-makers in priority setting.     

2006～2008年北京市某农村地区居民伤害发生流行病学分析

目的分析和描述北京市通州区永乐店地区居民伤害发生情况,为伤害防控提供科学依据。方法利用哨点医院伤害监测资料,进行描述性分析。使用全国伤害监测专用软件建立数据库,用SPSS13.0对资料进行统计分析。结果 2006～2008年每年平均伤害例次发生率为8.33%,标化率为9.00%;每年平均死亡率为6.46/10万,标化率为8.40/10万。跌倒/坠落、动物伤、钝器伤发生率最高。结论预防伤害尤其是在室内发生的伤害非常必要。     

Comparative head trauma experiences in two socioeconomically different Chicago-area communities: a population study

Although a few epidemiologic studies of head injuries have appeared recently, none have examined the incidence, causes and risk factors for an inner city environment. To overcome this deficiency, the authors visited 35 hospitals and the Office of the Medical Examiner and abstracted data from every chart that described a head injury that had been sustained during a 12-month interval by residents of either of two Chicago-area communities: one located in the inner city, comprised almost entirely of blacks; the other the city of Evanston, a Chicago suburb, about 21% black and 75% white. Denominators came from the 1980 Census. Age-adjusted incidence rates, per 100,000 population, were 403 for the inner city community, 394 for Evanston blacks and 196 for Evanston whites. In each race-community category, males were about 2.5 times more likely than females to sustain a head injury. Mortality rates from head trauma were 32 for the inner city community, 19 for Evanston blacks and 11 for Evanston whites. The leading cause of head trauma and death from head trauma was interpersonal attacks for the inner city residents and vehicle accidents for Evanston residents. Community differences, revealed in this study, and in a comparison of this study with previous reports, are discussed. Finally, methodological differences among these studies are examined in an effort to determine which differences in results reflect actual differences in head trauma experience.     

Presence of a Community Health Center and Uninsured Emergency Department Visit Rates in Rural Counties

ABSTRACT: Context: Community health centers (CHCs) provide essential access to a primary care medical home for the uninsured, especially in rural communities with no other primary care safety net. CHCs could potentially reduce uninsured emergency department (ED) visits in rural communities. Purpose: We compared uninsured ED visit rates between rural counties in Georgia that have a CHC clinic site and counties without a CHC presence. Methods: We analyzed data from 100% of ED visits occurring in 117 rural (non‐metropolitan statistical area [MSA]) counties in Georgia from 2003 to 2005. The counties were classified as having a CHC presence if a federally funded (Section 330) CHC had a primary care delivery site in that county throughout the study period. The main outcome measure was uninsured ED visit rates among the uninsured (all‐cause ED visits and visits for ambulatory care sensitive conditions). Poisson regression models were used to examine the relationship between ED rates and the presence of a CHC. To ensure that the effects were unique to the uninsured population, we ran similar analyses on insured ED visits. Findings: Counties without a CHC primary care clinic site had 33% higher rates of uninsured all‐cause ED visits per 10,000 uninsured population compared with non‐CHC counties (rate ratio [RR] 1.33, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.11‐1.59). Higher ED visit rates remained significant (RR 1.21, 95% CI 1.02‐1.42) after adjustment for percentage of population below poverty level, percentage of black population, and number of hospitals. Uninsured ED visit rates were also higher for various categories of diagnoses, but remained statistically significant on multivariate analysis only for ambulatory care sensitive conditions (adjusted RR = 1.22, 95% CI 1.01‐1.47). No such relationship was found for ED visit rates of insured patients (RR 1.06, 95% CI 0.92‐1.22). Conclusions: The absence of a CHC is associated with a substantial excess in uninsured ED visits in rural counties, an excess not seen for ED visit rates among the insured.     

Interpersonal violence: patterns in a Danish community.

We studied all cases of assault with violence (1,639) in a Danish population of 275,000 over a one-year period. Most victims were young men. The incidence rose during evenings, nights and weekends, and assaults were often seen in or around bars and restaurants. Women accounted for 64 per cent of all victims of assault in the home. Influence of alcohol was identified in 43 per cent of all cases. The fist was the most frequent agent of assault; use of firearms was a very rare act of violence but was associated with death in three out of five cases. There were 10 deaths in all.     

The injury mortality burden in Guinea

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The injury mortality burden of Guinea has been rarely addressed. The paper aimed to report patterns of injury mortality burden in Guinea. METHODS: We retrieved the mortality data from the Guinean Annual Health Statistics Report 2007. The information about underlying cause of deaths was collected based on Guinean hospital discharge data, Hospital Mortuary and City Council Mortuary data. The causes of death are coded in the 9th International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9). Multivariate Poisson regression was used to test the impacts of sex and age on mortality rates. The statistical analyses were performed using Statatm 10.0. RESULTS: In 2007, 7066 persons were reported dying of injuries in Guinea (mortality: 72.8 per 100,000 population). Transportation, fire/burn, falls, homicide and drowning were the five leading causes of fatal injuries for the whole population, accounting for 37%, 22%, 12%, 10% and 6% of total deaths, respectively. In general, age-specific injury causes displayed similar patterns of the whole population except that poisoning replaced falls as a leading cause among children under five years old. Males were at 30-50% more risk of dying from six commonest causes than females and old age groups had higher injury mortality rates than younger age groups. CONCLUSION: Transportation, fire/burn, falls, homicide, and drowning accounted for the majority of total injury mortality burden in Guinea. Males and old adults were high-risk population of fatal injuries and should be targeted by injury prevention. Lots of work is needed to improve weak capacities for injury control in order to reduce the injury mortality burden.