Pattern of Fatal Injuries in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: A One-year Audit

Abstract

Background: Injury continues to account for a large number of clients\nattending emergency department in Addis Ababa. Reliable information on\ncauses of death is essential to the development of health policies for\nprevention and control. The aim of this atudy was to identify the\npattern and common causes of fatal injuries Methods: This is\nprospective study analyses autopsy data related to fatal injuries\nhandled by Menilik II Hospital between July1, 2006 -June 30, 2007.\n(Sene 24, 1998 - Sene 23, 1999) Results: A total of 2107 cases were\nanalyzed. The victims were mostly male and the most vulnerable age\ngroup was found to be 15-44 years. Accidents versus homicide and\naccident versus suicide ratio was 1.8:1 and 5:1 respectively. Road\ntraffic accidents were the most frequent causes of accident related\ndeath. Main means of homicide was hit by blunt or sharp object or\nfirearm. More than 90% of victims who committed suicide use hanging or\npoisoning.Ninety percent of deaths occur with in 24 hours of the injury\nand only 105 (5%) died from the second day on wards. Eighty one\npercents of this patients had never received any medical care (either\npre-hospital or hospital level). Conclusion: Road traffic accidents\naccounted for most causes of injury related deaths. Significant\nproportion of patients had no access to emergency medical care. The\nfindings strongly suggest that more aggressive, regulatory,\neducational, and rapid emergency treatment is necessary to address the\nlarge number of injury related death.