Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health

Volume 5, Issue 3, September 2015, Pages 283 - 290

Fall-related injuries in a low-income setting: Results from a pilot injury surveillance system in Rawalpindi, Pakistan

Authors
Junaid A. Bhattia, b, c, 1, *, junaid.bhatti@yahoo.com junaid.bhatti@ices.on.ca, Umar Farooqd, 1, Mudassir Majeedd, Jahangir S. Khand, Junaid A. Razzake, Muhammad M. Khand
aSunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Research Institute, Toronto, Canada
bDepartment of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
cInstitute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, Toronto, Canada
dSurgical Unit I, Department of Surgery, Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
eDepartment of Emergency Medicine, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
1

Equally contributed.

*Corresponding author at: Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Research Institute, 2075 Bayview Avenue, G1-06, Toronto M4N 3M5, Canada. Tel.: +1 416 480 4055; fax: +1 416 480 6049.
Corresponding Author
Received 17 July 2014, Revised 7 January 2015, Accepted 28 January 2015, Available Online 26 February 2015.
DOI
10.1016/j.jegh.2015.01.003How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Falls; Pakistan; Surveillance
Abstract

This study assessed the characteristics and emergency care outcomes of fall-related injuries in Pakistan. This study included all fall-related injury cases presenting to emergency departments (EDs) of the three teaching hospitals in Rawalpindi city from July 2007 to June 2008. Out of 62,530 injury cases, 43.4% (N = 27,109) were due to falls. Children (0–15 years) accounted for about two out of five of all fall-related injuries. Compared with women aged 16–45 years, more men of the same age group presented with fall-related injuries (50% vs. 42%); however, compared with men aged 45 years or more, about twice as many women of the same age group presented with fall-related injuries (16% vs. 9%, P < 0.001). For each reported death due to falls (n = 57), 43 more were admitted (n = 2443, 9%), and another 423 were discharged from the EDs (n = 24,142, 91%). Factors associated with death or inpatient admission were: aged 0–15 years (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.35), aged 45 years or more (aOR = 1.94), male gender (aOR = 1.15), falls occurring at home (aOR = 3.38), in markets (aOR = 1.43), on work sites (aOR = 4.80), and during playing activities (aOR = 1.68). This ED-based surveillance study indicated that fall prevention interventions in Pakistan should target children, older adult women, homes, and work sites.

Copyright
© 2015 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

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Journal
Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
Volume-Issue
5 - 3
Pages
283 - 290
Publication Date
2015/02/26
ISSN (Online)
2210-6014
ISSN (Print)
2210-6006
DOI
10.1016/j.jegh.2015.01.003How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2015 Ministry of Health, Saudi Arabia. Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Open Access
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Cite this article

TY  - JOUR
AU  - Junaid A. Bhatti
AU  - Umar Farooq
AU  - Mudassir Majeed
AU  - Jahangir S. Khan
AU  - Junaid A. Razzak
AU  - Muhammad M. Khan
PY  - 2015
DA  - 2015/02/26
TI  - Fall-related injuries in a low-income setting: Results from a pilot injury surveillance system in Rawalpindi, Pakistan
JO  - Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health
SP  - 283
EP  - 290
VL  - 5
IS  - 3
SN  - 2210-6014
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jegh.2015.01.003
DO  - 10.1016/j.jegh.2015.01.003
ID  - Bhatti2015
ER  -