A Study of Injuries and Violence Related Articles in Nepal

S Shrestha,Sunil Kumar Joshi

doi:10.31729/jnma.182

Abstract

Introduction: Nepal lacks suffi cient data on injury and violence. Studies have been done in differentregions but there is not a nationwide study on this topic. So, we have designed this systematic reviewto get a cumulative picture of injury and violence status in Nepal.Methods: We searched Medline database, Google scholar database and also all the national medicaljournals for relevant studies on injuries and violence. Our eligibility criteria included studies donein Nepal, evaluating the incidence of different forms of injuries, and their causes and effects. Weexcluded case reports, editorials and reviews. All together, we had 23 studies. We made cumulativeanalysis wherever possible.Results: All the studies were descriptive. In overall, the incidence of injuries was twice as commonin male as in female with the ratio of 2.1:1. The economically active population between 20-50 yearsof age was mostly involved in injuries. Road traffi c injuries were the most common form of injuries,most of which (42.5%) involved motorcycles. Pedestrians (48.6%) were the most vulnerable group ofpopulation. Falls (48.9%) were the most common cause of neuro traumatic accidents.Conclusions: Our systematic review suggests that injuries and violence pose a big problem; roadtraffi c accidents make the most part of it.Key Words: burn, falls, injury, ocular trauma, road traffi c accident

Highlights

Nepal lacks sufficient data on injury and violence
There were some articles which focused more on road traffic accidents, and likewise, there were some other articles which focused more on neurotrauma, or burn. We evaluated those articles in different groups – all articles on road traffic accidents in one group, all articles on burn in another group and so on
Six were more focused on neuro trauma cases including craniofacial and spinal injuries, two on ocular injuries, two on burns, and one on occupational injuries. It seemed that males are more prone to get injuries than the females, as the cumulative data showed a ratio of male to female as 2.1:1

Summary

Introduction

Nepal lacks sufficient data on injury and violence. We have designed this systematic review to get a cumulative picture of injury and violence status in Nepal. Injury and violence are one of the major public health problems, which are prevalent in every corner of the world. More than five million deaths per year, which makes around 9% of the global mortality, are attributed to Injury and violence. Eight of the fifteen leading causes of deaths in the age group 15-25 are injury related. Traffic crashes are the number one cause of death for children and youth between ages 10 and. About 1.2 million people die every year as a result of road traffic crashes - up to 50 million more are injured or disabled. Every year over 300 000 people die from fire-related burns.[1]

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