Jurnal Internasional Afrika vol. 11 issue 2 2021
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Epidemiology of prehospital trauma deaths in Malawi: A retrospective cohort study
Dublin Core
Title
Jurnal Internasional Afrika vol. 11 issue 2 2021
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Epidemiology of prehospital trauma deaths in Malawi: A retrospective cohort study
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Epidemiology of prehospital trauma deaths in Malawi: A retrospective cohort study
Subject
Prehospital deaths
Brought in dead
Trauma
Brought in dead
Trauma
Description
Introduction: Trauma is among the leading causes of death and disability in both adults and children worldwide.
In Malawi, trauma patients are commonly brought in dead (BID). We aimed to describe the prevalence, sociodemographic,
and injury-related characteristics of patients BID to Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH), a referral
hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of all patients BID in the trauma surveillance registry at KCH from
February 2008 to September 2019. We excluded patients BID that did not present to the emergency centre, and
were instead taken to the mortuary directly. We used descriptive statistics to evaluate the epidemiology of patients
BID.
Results: We reviewed 106,198 trauma records and 1889 (1.8%) were BID patients. Most patients BID were male,
in both adult (n = 1337/1528, 88.4%) and children (n = 231/360, 64.9%) cohorts. The mean age was 34.7 (SD
11.9) years in adults and 7.8 (SD 5.4) years in children. Among the adult BID patients, 33.2% were unemployed,
25.6% were construction workers, and 10.1% were small business owners or managers. The common injury
mechanisms in adults were road traffic-related injuries (RTIs) (47.1%) and assaults (23.6%). In children, injuries
resulted from RTIs (39.7%), with 74.4% of those were pedestrians hit by cars, drowning (22.9%), and burns
(12.4%). In both groups, most injuries occurred on roads (60.2%) or at home (22.1%). Reported alcohol use at
the time of trauma was present in 6.3%. The police (57.9%) and privately-owned vehicles (26.6%) transported
most BID patients to KCH.
Conclusion: Efforts to reduce prehospital trauma mortality must focus on improving prehospital care, including
training the police and community in basic life support and improving resources towards prehospital trauma
care. Further efforts to reduce prehospital mortality must aim to decrease injuries on the roads and at home
In Malawi, trauma patients are commonly brought in dead (BID). We aimed to describe the prevalence, sociodemographic,
and injury-related characteristics of patients BID to Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH), a referral
hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Methods: We retrospectively reviewed records of all patients BID in the trauma surveillance registry at KCH from
February 2008 to September 2019. We excluded patients BID that did not present to the emergency centre, and
were instead taken to the mortuary directly. We used descriptive statistics to evaluate the epidemiology of patients
BID.
Results: We reviewed 106,198 trauma records and 1889 (1.8%) were BID patients. Most patients BID were male,
in both adult (n = 1337/1528, 88.4%) and children (n = 231/360, 64.9%) cohorts. The mean age was 34.7 (SD
11.9) years in adults and 7.8 (SD 5.4) years in children. Among the adult BID patients, 33.2% were unemployed,
25.6% were construction workers, and 10.1% were small business owners or managers. The common injury
mechanisms in adults were road traffic-related injuries (RTIs) (47.1%) and assaults (23.6%). In children, injuries
resulted from RTIs (39.7%), with 74.4% of those were pedestrians hit by cars, drowning (22.9%), and burns
(12.4%). In both groups, most injuries occurred on roads (60.2%) or at home (22.1%). Reported alcohol use at
the time of trauma was present in 6.3%. The police (57.9%) and privately-owned vehicles (26.6%) transported
most BID patients to KCH.
Conclusion: Efforts to reduce prehospital trauma mortality must focus on improving prehospital care, including
training the police and community in basic life support and improving resources towards prehospital trauma
care. Further efforts to reduce prehospital mortality must aim to decrease injuries on the roads and at home
Creator
Gift Mulima , Laura N. Purcell Rebecca Maine , Erica C. Bjornstad , Anthony Charles
Source
www.elsevier.com/locate/afjem
Publisher
ELSEVIER
Date
13 March 2021
Contributor
PERI IRAWAN
Format
PDF
Language
ENGLISH
Type
TEXT
Files
Citation
Gift Mulima , Laura N. Purcell Rebecca Maine , Erica C. Bjornstad , Anthony Charles , “Jurnal Internasional Afrika vol. 11 issue 2 2021
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Epidemiology of prehospital trauma deaths in Malawi: A retrospective cohort study,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed March 14, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/2626.
African Journal of Emergency Medicine
Epidemiology of prehospital trauma deaths in Malawi: A retrospective cohort study,” Repository Horizon University Indonesia, accessed March 14, 2025, https://repository.horizon.ac.id/items/show/2626.