INJURY EXPERIENCE IN TANZANIA - NEED FOR INTERVENTION.

Objective: To determine distribution of injuries and factors associated with mortality in six hospitals of Tanzania mainland.

Design: A Cross-Sectional hospital based study.

Setting: Data were collected from casualty departments of Muhimbili Orthopaedic Institute, Morogoro, Mtwara, Kigoma, Musoma regional hospitals and Korogwe district hospital.

Subjects: Patients who sustained injuries and attended in six involved hospitals between November 2011 and December 2012.

Results: Of the 9316 injury patients seen, 71.7% were males. Majority (55%) were between 18 - 45 years age group. Traffic crashes were the leading cause of injuries and accounted for 47.5% of all injuries. Fractures accounted for 49.2%, and injuries were severe in 1.2% as determinedby the Kampala trauma score II (KTS II). Majorities 66.7% were admitted and 2.4% died at the casualty. Factors associated with mortality were; being unemployed (P = 0.000), using ambulances to the hospital (P = 0.000), receiving medical attention within 2 to 10 hours after injury (P = 0.001), road traffic crashes (P = 0.000), 18-45 years age group (P = 0.003), low KTS II score (P = 0.000) and sustaining head injury (P = 0.000).

Conclusion: Injuries in Tanzania are an important public health problem, predominantly in adult males, mostly due to traffic crashes. It is therefore important to reinforce preventive measures and pre-hospital emergency service is urgently needed.