ISMJ

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Background: Injury is a major public health problem in Iran. The essential part of an injury control program is injury surveillance. This study was conducted to clarify the type of injuries and to explore the demographic characteristics of injured individuals in Kerman. Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in emergency wards of three major hospitals of Kerman from August 2002 through July 2003. Data were collected by trained interviewers on arrival of patients attending the emergency wards every fourth day via a questionnaire. The questionnaire had three parts: demographic characteristics, type of injury, and baseline characteristics of accidents. Results: The age range of the injured patients (61%) was 15 - 39 years male to female ratio was 2/3. The educational level of the majority was less than high school (70%). Traffic accident was the most common cause of injury (36.6%, CI= 35.1% 38.1%). Falling down (9.83%, CI= 8.9% 10.7%) and physical fighting were the second and third causes of injury, respectively. Friday and Thursday had the highest proportion of accidents (15. 5% and 15. 1% respectively). A total of 27% of subjects admitted in hospitals, after initial evaluation in emergency wards. Conclusion: Adolescence is a major risk factor for injuries in Kerman. Road accident is also the most common cause of injury therefore more educational emphasis should be paid to prevention measures of traffic accident.

Keywords: accidents, epidemiology, injury, traffic accident

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