Usefulness of hospital emergency department records to explore access to injury care in Nepal

Bhatta, Santosh; Pant, Puspa Raj; Mytton, Julie

Abstract

© 2016, Bhatta et al. Background: Injuries are a major public health problem worldwide. Despite increasing morbidity and mortality from injuries in Nepal, it is not recognised in the government’s policy and programmes and few population-based studies have been published. This study describes the usefulness of hospital emergency department records to explore access to injury care in Nepal. Methods: A retrospective ED-based study was conducted at a governmental hospital in Nepal to review the routinely collected data for 1year (1 January 2010 to 31 December 2010). The study was designed to provide cross-sectional data to describe the distribution of injuries by age, gender, ethnic group and injury mechanism. Results: Results showed that twice as many males as females attended the emergency department (14.6 vs. 7.0 per 1000), attendance varied by age with most (39.8%) attendances in young adults of working age and over half of attendances were from just two ethnic groups (Brahmin (26%) and Tamang (25.5%). Road traffic injuries were the most common cause of injury (37.6%). Conclusions: This study therefore showed the feasibility of using routinely collected hospital emergency department data to monitor injury inequalities in Nepal.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 2, 2016
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jul 21, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 21, 2016
• Journal: International Journal of Emergency Medicine
• Print ISSN: 1865-1372
• Electronic ISSN: 1865-1380
• Publisher: BioMed Central
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 9
• Issue: 1
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12245-016-0120-9
• Keywords: emergency department, unintentional injury, hospital records, Nepal
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/916876
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12245-016-0120-9
• Contract Date: Jul 21, 2016