INJURY EXPERIENCE IN TANZANIA - NEED FOR INTERVENTION.

OBJECTIVE

To determine distribution of injuries and factors associated with mortality in six hospitals of Tanzania mainland.

DESIGN

A Cross-Sectional hospital based study.

SETTING

Data were collected from casualty departments of Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute, Morogoro, Mtwara, Kigoma, Musoma regional hospitals and Korogwe district hospital.

SUBJECTS

Patients who sustained injuries and attended in six involved hospitals between November 2011 and December 2012.

RESULTS

Of the 9316 injury patients seen, 71.7% were males. Majority (55%) were between 18 - 45 years age group. Traffic crashes were the leading cause of injuries and accounted for 47.5% of all injuries. Fractures accounted for 49.2%, and injuries were severe in 1.2% as determinedby the Kampala trauma score II (KTS II). Majorities 66.7% were admitted and 2.4% died at the casualty. Factors associated with mortality were; being unemployed (P = 0.000), using ambulances to the hospital (P = 0.000), receiving medical attention within 2 to 10 hours after injury (P = 0.001), road traffic crashes (P = 0.000), 18-45 years age group (P = 0.003), low KTS II score (P = 0.000) and sustaining head injury (P = 0.000).

CONCLUSION

Injuries in Tanzania are an important public health problem, predominantly in adult males, mostly due to traffic crashes. It is therefore important to reinforce preventive measures and pre-hospital emergency service is urgently needed.