Physical injury: Is it inevitable or preventable? an experience from a Tertiary Care Hospital of Kolkata, West Bengal

Abstract

Introduction: Injuries are not random events – they have identifiable precipitating factors, and are therefore among public health's winnable battles. Substantial data-based study can help identify measures to prevent the occurrence of physical injury. Our objective was to find out the injury profile of patients attending a tertiary care hospital and assess their perception toward preventability of the event in light of their causation. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients attending selected Outpatient and Inpatient Departments of Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Kolkata, from February to March 2014. 216 patients who had suffered any form of physical injury and admitted/attending the selected departments were included in the study by complete enumeration method, after exclusion of unwilling and severely moribund patients. Pearson's Chi-square test was performed using Epi Info software version 3.2. Results: Highest proportion of physical injuries (24.07%) occurred among 30–40 years age group. Road traffic accidents (RTAs) were the most common type of injury (38.8%) followed by falls (34.7%). 38.6% of the falls occurred inside victim's homes and 25.3% occurred on road. Electricity caused 55.1% burn injuries. Faulty driving attributed to 47% of the RTAs as perceived by its victims. Majority of the victims (60.2%) opined that their injuries were not preventable. Conclusion: Raising public awareness that injury is preventable to a great extent, would help in averting such incidents, and thereby reduce unnecessary injury-related morbidity and mortality.