The Epidemiology of Injuries in Adults in Nepal: Findings from a Hospital-Based Injury Surveillance Study

Santosh Bhatta, Dan Magnus, Julie Mytton, Elisha Joshi, Sumiksha Bhatta, Dhruba Adhikari, Sunil Raja Manandhar and Sunil Kumar Joshi
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Santosh Bhatta: School of Health and Social Wellbeing, Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK
Dan Magnus: Centre for Academic Child Health, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1NU, UK
Julie Mytton: School of Health and Social Wellbeing, Faculty of Health and Applied Sciences, University of the West of England, Bristol BS16 1QY, UK
Elisha Joshi: Nepal Injury Research Centre, Department of Community Medicine, Kathmandu Medical College, Kathmandu P.O. Box 21266, Nepal
Sumiksha Bhatta: Nepal Injury Research Centre, Department of Community Medicine, Kathmandu Medical College, Kathmandu P.O. Box 21266, Nepal
Dhruba Adhikari: Mother and Infant Research Activities (MIRA), Kathmandu P.O. Box 921, Nepal
Sunil Raja Manandhar: Mother and Infant Research Activities (MIRA), Kathmandu P.O. Box 921, Nepal
Sunil Kumar Joshi: Nepal Injury Research Centre, Department of Community Medicine, Kathmandu Medical College, Kathmandu P.O. Box 21266, Nepal

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 23, 1-15

Abstract: This study aimed to develop and evaluate a model of hospital-based injury surveillance and describe the epidemiology of injuries in adults. One-year prospective surveillance was conducted in two hospitals in Hetauda, Nepal. Data were collected electronically for patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) with injuries between April 2019 and March 2020. To evaluate the model’s sustainability, clinical leaders, senior managers, data collectors, and study coordinators were interviewed. The total number of patients with injuries over one year was 10,154, representing 30.7% of all patients visiting the EDs. Of patients with injuries, 7458 (73.4%) were adults aged 18 years and over. Most injuries (6434, 86%) were unintentional, with smaller proportions due to assault (616, 8.2%) and self-harm (408, 5.5%). The median age of adult patients was 33 years (IQR 25–47). Males had twice the rate of ED presentation compared with females (40.4 vs. 20.9/1000). The most common causes were road traffic accidents (32.8%), falls (25.4%), and animal/insect related injuries (20.1%). Most injured patients were discharged after treatment (80%) with 9.1% admitted to hospital, 8.1% transferred to other hospitals, and 2.1% died. In Nepal, hospital-based injury surveillance is feasible, and rich injury data can be obtained by embedding data collectors in EDs.

Keywords: injury surveillance; hospital; program evaluation; developing countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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