Children's head injuries in the Vietnamese refugee population in Hong Kong.

All Vietnamese patients with head injuries from two of the largest refugee camps in Hong Kong are routinely referred to the Neurosurgical Unit of the Prince of Wales Hospital for management. In order to determine the epidemiology of head injuries in this population group, we have retrospectively reviewed all hospitalized cases over a 4 year period from January 1990 to December 1993. We have found a unique social situation in this population group, with an unusually high proportion of paediatric cases (2253 per 100,000 children aged 5 years or less), compared with other epidemiological studies. The most common mechanism of injury in between 57 and 75 per cent of cases was a fall from bed. Based on this information, appropriate preventive measures have been recommended and have successfully decreased the incidence of head injuries. This study demonstrates the value and effectiveness of epidemiological studies in identifying a previously unrecognized health risk in a specified population group.