Department of Surgery, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Buea, Buea, Cameroon.
Department of Surgery, Center for Global Surgical Studies, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California, United States of America.
PLoS One. 2022 Sep 22;17(9):e0274686. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0274686. eCollection 2022.
Home injuries are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in high-income countries. In Sub-Saharan Africa, including Cameroon, many people live in unplanned settlements with poorly constructed houses, predisposing them to home injuries. However, little is known about the epidemiology and care-seeking behaviors of the domestically injured. In this study, our objective was to determine the epidemiology and care-seeking behaviors of home injuries in the Southwest Region of Cameroon.
A sub-analyses of a larger descriptive cross-sectional community-based study on injury epidemiology in the preceding 12 months was conducted. Sampling was done using three-stage cluster sampling technique. Differences between groups were evaluated using Chi-squared and Adjusted Wald tests.
Of 8065 participants, 157 suffered home injuries giving an incidence of 19.6 (16.8-23.0 95% CI) cases per 1000-person years. Home injuries comprised 31.2% of all 503 injuries and affected more females (60.8%) and younger individuals (mean age (SE) 25.1 years (2.0)) than non-home injuries. The most common activity and mechanism of home injury was leisure/play (51%) and falls (37.9%) respectively. Amongst those with home injuries, 37.6% did not seek care from any care provider (versus 25.0% of non-home injuries, p = 0.004) and were more likely to seek treatment within the family or at home (p = 0.008) or at church (p = 0.010). Those with home injuries experienced a median of 14 disability days and 22.9% of families faced difficulties affording basic expenses (p = 0.001).
Home injuries comprise about a third of the Southwest Region of Cameroon's burden of injury and likely have a profound socioeconomic impact. Though these injuries cause severe disabilities, a large proportion of victims do not seek care from providers. Prevention efforts should address the design of homes and victims of home injury should be encouraged to utilize formal care services.
家庭伤害是高收入国家发病率和死亡率的一个重要原因。在撒哈拉以南非洲，包括喀麦隆在内，许多人生活在规划不善的定居点，房屋建筑质量差，使他们容易受到家庭伤害。然而，对于国内受伤者的流行病学和寻求治疗行为知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们的目的是确定喀麦隆西南部地区家庭伤害的流行病学和寻求治疗行为。
对之前进行的为期 12 个月的伤害流行病学的大型描述性横断面社区基础研究进行了子分析。采用三阶段聚类抽样技术进行抽样。使用卡方检验和调整 Wald 检验评估组间差异。
在 8065 名参与者中，有 157 人遭受家庭伤害，发病率为每 1000 人年 19.6 例（16.8-23.0 95%CI）。家庭伤害占所有 503 例伤害的 31.2%，比非家庭伤害更影响女性（60.8%）和年轻个体（平均年龄（SE）为 25.1 岁（2.0））。家庭伤害最常见的活动和机制分别是休闲/玩耍（51%）和跌倒（37.9%）。在家庭伤害者中，37.6%的人没有向任何治疗提供者寻求治疗（而非家庭伤害者为 25.0%，p = 0.004），更有可能在家庭或家中（p = 0.008）或在教堂（p = 0.010）接受治疗。家庭伤害者经历了中位数为 14 天的残疾，22.9%的家庭难以支付基本费用（p = 0.001）。
家庭伤害占喀麦隆西南部地区伤害负担的三分之一左右，可能产生深远的社会经济影响。尽管这些伤害导致严重残疾，但很大一部分受害者没有向提供者寻求治疗。预防工作应解决房屋设计问题，并鼓励家庭伤害受害者利用正规护理服务。
