Epidemiological profile of injuries in urban and urban slum areas of Rajkot city, India: a community based study

Abstract

Background: Injuries and violence are among the most prominent public health problems in the world. Objective was to study the epidemiological profile of injuries in urban and urban slum areas of Rajkot city, India.Methods: A community based study was conducted in Rajkot city with sample size of 540 households. Total 30 clusters (society) were selected from 805 notified societies including 20 clusters from urban areas and 10 clusters from urban slum areas of Rajkot city. From identified cluster, 18 households were selected to achieve targeted sample size 540. All injuries reported among all household members in the last 12 months were included in the study. A total of 2,367 persons of all ages were interviewed.Results: The prevalence of injury was 14% among 2,367 study participants. Almost all injuries (99.1%) were unintentional in nature. The leading causes of injures were falls (49.2%) and road traffic accidents (RTAs) (35.7%). Significant numbers of injuries were reported among males (p<0.01). The males reported RTAs (46.9%) and females reported falls (64.2%) as a common type of injury (p<0.01). Lower limb (70.1%) was the most commonly affected body part and road (38.4%) was the most common place of injury occurrence. Average money spent by injured person was Rs. 7,000. Only 11.3 % study participants had health insurance.Conclusions: Injury prevention priorities should be focused on the leading causes such as falls and RTAs to develop specific preventive strategies.