Abstract
Background: Injuries are increasingly recognized as a major component of the global burden of disease, as they tend to affect mainly youth and are usually followed by premature death or severe disability. The longstanding conflict in Iraq has resulted in a situation of continuous violence and ongoing instability, which has in turn led to an increasing incidence of injuries and a crippled health system. Objective: To sketch a trend of non-military accidents in Iraq (road traffic accidents [RTA], falls, burns, firearm injuries, assaults by sharp objects and sexual assaults) among civilians during the last 14 years associated with the period of conflict (2003–2016). Methods: This descriptive study was conducted during the period from January 1st through to December 31st, 2017 using already available surveillance data from the Ministry of Health in Iraq. The methodology was based on measuring the incidence of each accident for the period from 2003 through 2016 and plotting it against time. Linear regression was computed to estimate the trends of the disease. Results: The rate of RTAs significantly increased between 2003 and 2016, from 1.85 to 2.9 per 1000 (p ≤ 0.01), as did accidental falls especially after 2008 (males more than females) (p ≤ 0.01). By contrast, after a peak in 2011, burns dropped significantly from 4.19 to 3.42/1000, along with firearm accidents, which fell from 2.2/1000 in 2007 to 0.39 in 2016 (p ≤ 0.01), mostly among males. Assaults with sharp objects also decreased with time to a rate of 0.47/1000 (p = 0.0001). Sexual assaults showed a significant downward sloping trend over time to p = 0.037. Conclusion: Accidents still add a burden on the already deteriorated Iraqi health system. Understanding the impact of this burden is essential to better prepare for future plans and interventions that may help improve the quality of health services.
Highlights
Injuries are increasingly recognized as a major component of the global burden of disease.[1]
Injuries and violence represent a threat to health for every society, as they cause more than five million deaths worldwide every year, accounting for 9% of the total global mortality, of which road traffic accidents form approximately a quarter.[5]
The longstanding conflict in Iraq has resulted in a situation of continuous violence and ongoing instability, which has in turn led to an increasing incidence of injuries and a crippled health system with widely acknowledged rampant corruption
Summary
Injuries are increasingly recognized as a major component of the global burden of disease.[1] The burden of accidents and injuries is immense, as they tend to affect mainly youth and are usually followed by premature death or severe disability. They represent the fourth leading cause of death globally and the number one cause of death in youth in developing countries.[2] One quarter of the disabilities in some countries is estimated to be due to accidents and violence.[3]. Injuries are increasingly recognized as a major component of the global burden of disease, as they tend to affect mainly youth and are usually followed by premature death or severe disability. Understanding the impact of this burden is essential to better prepare for QATAR MEDICAL JOURNAL 1
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