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EPIDEMIOLOGY OF INJURY PATIENTS AT BUGANDO MEDICAL CENTRE, TANZANIA
Abstract
Objective: To describe the epidemiologic characteristics of injury cases at Bugando Medical
Centre.
Setting: Bugando Medical Centre, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Data sources: Records, registries and case notes in the surgical wards and clinic, casualty,
medical record department, radiology and theatre from January 1995 to December 1997.
Study sample: Cases attended to at Bugando and diagnosed to have had an injury during the
stated period. Only those whose records were complete and available were recruited in the
study.
Data extraction: A special data sheet was used to collect the required information from the
registries in surgical wards clinic, casualty, theatre, radiology and medical records. Data
analysis was Dbase IV and SPSS (version 9.0).
Results: There were 3590 cases of injury recorded at the centre of whom 3340 (93%) whose
data were complete were available for analysis. Of the cases, 2443 (73.1 %) were males and
897 (26.9 %) females while 252 (7.7%) were children under five years. The most affected age
group were the 20-59 year category comprising of mostly males. The leading causes of
injuries were falls, assault (28.7%) and motor traffic accidents (17.9%). Mortality was
(2.2%) for all causes, and permanent disability was two per cent. The mean length of stay in
hospital was 21 days (range: 1-321 days).
Conclusion: A more comprehensive study is recommended to determine risk factors and
magnitude of the problem.
Centre.
Setting: Bugando Medical Centre, Mwanza, Tanzania.
Data sources: Records, registries and case notes in the surgical wards and clinic, casualty,
medical record department, radiology and theatre from January 1995 to December 1997.
Study sample: Cases attended to at Bugando and diagnosed to have had an injury during the
stated period. Only those whose records were complete and available were recruited in the
study.
Data extraction: A special data sheet was used to collect the required information from the
registries in surgical wards clinic, casualty, theatre, radiology and medical records. Data
analysis was Dbase IV and SPSS (version 9.0).
Results: There were 3590 cases of injury recorded at the centre of whom 3340 (93%) whose
data were complete were available for analysis. Of the cases, 2443 (73.1 %) were males and
897 (26.9 %) females while 252 (7.7%) were children under five years. The most affected age
group were the 20-59 year category comprising of mostly males. The leading causes of
injuries were falls, assault (28.7%) and motor traffic accidents (17.9%). Mortality was
(2.2%) for all causes, and permanent disability was two per cent. The mean length of stay in
hospital was 21 days (range: 1-321 days).
Conclusion: A more comprehensive study is recommended to determine risk factors and
magnitude of the problem.
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