Abstract
Around 90% of all fatal and non-fatal unintentional injuries occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The magnitude of unintentional injuries is unclear due to limited research and data. This paper describes the burden of lesser-known injuries (LKIs—cut injuries, unintentional poisoning, machine injuries, electrocution, injury by blunt objects, and suffocation) in rural Bangladesh, using data from the Saving of Lives from Drowning (SoLiD) project in Bangladesh. Descriptive statistics were used to report counts and rates of injuries by socio-demographic factors, injury characteristics, and circumstantial details. The annual morbidity rate of LKIs was 6878 injuries per 100,000 persons, involving 3.4% (40,520) of the population. Cut injury (44,131.2/100,000 per year) and injury by blunt objects (19768.6/100,000 per year) attributed in large numbers to the overall burden of LKIs. Males (66.1%) suffered more injuries than females. More than half (52.9%) occurred among people aged 25 to 64 years. Those involved in agriculture suffered the most injuries, mainly cut injuries (9234.1/100,000 per year) and machine-related injuries (582.9/100,000 per year). Most injuries occurred in the home setting. Increased awareness about packaging, storage, and the proper handling of appliances can help lower the frequency of LKIs. Safe architecture and awareness about home injuries is required to reduce injuries occurring in the home environment.
Highlights
There has been a rise in the rate of unintentional injuries globally, claiming more than 25.62 lives per 100,000 people in 2017 alone [1]
With every unintentional injury death, there are many times more non-fatal injuries that result in the loss of school and work days and financial costs in treatment and rehabilitation, which are difficult to bear, by people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)
The aim of this paper is to describe the socio-demographic characteristics and injury characteristics of non-fatal cut injuries, unintentional poisoning, machine injuries, electrocution, injury by blunt objects, and suffocation, using data from a census covering approximately 1.18 million people in seven rural sub-districts of Bangladesh
Summary
There has been a rise in the rate of unintentional injuries globally, claiming more than 25.62 lives per 100,000 people in 2017 alone [1]. With every unintentional injury death, there are many times more non-fatal injuries that result in the loss of school and work days and financial costs in treatment and rehabilitation, which are difficult to bear, by people in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The global burden of mortality and morbidity due to unintentional injuries has been a challenge to deal with over the years as many of these injuries go unreported due to lack of awareness, scarcity of vital registration and population-based data, and improper record keeping in hospitals in LMICs [2,3]. Public Health 2019, 16, 3366; doi:10.3390/ijerph16183366 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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