A cross-sectional study measuring injury mortality and its associated factors among adult patients in comprehensive specialized hospitals in Amhara National Regional State, Ethiopia.

BACKGROUND

Injury has become a life-threatening community health problem related to vital morbidity and mortality worldwide. Approximately 90% of injury-related deaths occurred in low-income and middle-income countries. There are limited data that address the outcomes of injuries in adult trauma patients at the time of discharge to improve the outcome of trauma care in developing countries, including Ethiopia. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the mortality following injury and its associated factors among adult patients in comprehensive specialized hospitals in Amhara's national regional state.

METHODS

An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 596 adult trauma patients admitted between 1 January 2018 and 30 December 2020. A systematic random sampling technique was employed to select the study participants. Data were collected from patient charts and registry books by using a data extraction tool. Data were entered into Epi-data version 4.6, and analysis was done using Stata version 16. The binary logistic regression model was fitted, and both bi-variable and multi-variable logistic regression analyses were employed.

RESULT

A total of 581 adult trauma patient charts with a recorded rate of 97.5% were included in the final analysis. The overall mortality outcome of injury at discharge was found to be 8.3% (95% CI: 6-10.5%). Age 26-40 years [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 3.35 (95% CI: 1.35-8.33)], revised trauma score 10 [AOR: 3.11, (95% CI: 1.39-6.99)], duration of time before arrival in hospital more than 24 h [AOR: 3.61 (95% CI: 1.18-11.02)], and surgical management in hospital [AOR: 0.25 (95% CI: 0.12-0.54)] were predictors of mortality in patients with injuries.

CONCLUSION

In this study, the mortality outcome of injury is considerably high, and the middle age group, late presentation to the hospital, lower revised trauma score, and surgical management were significantly associated with the mortality outcome of injury on discharge from the hospital. Therefore, it is better if clinicians emphasize traumatically injured patients, especially for middle age groups, and lower revised trauma scores.