An epidemiological study of injuries in an urban slum community in the metropolitan city of Mumbai

ABSTRACT

Background: In India, injuries account for an estimated 15% of total deaths and 15% of disability adjusted life years (DALYs) with resulting economic losses of 3% of gross domestic product (GDP) for the country. Learning about injuries is the first step to reduce the risks of injuries in the community. The objectives of the study were to describe the nature of injuries and their relationship to select epidemiological variables and also to assess the type of health facility accessed and the cost incurred therein.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out from May 2016 to October 2017. A recall period of three months for minor injuries & one year for major injuries or deaths due to injury was used. Data was collected by using semi-structured, pre-designed, pre-tested and open-ended questionnaires.Results: In this study, 70.7% subjects were male and 29.3% were female. There were 216 injuries either affecting work or for which treatment was availed, out of which 170 did not have knowledge about first-aid. 44.4% of study subjects belonged to 25- 44 years and 35.6% injured were daily wage-earners. 37.96% of injuries were caused by road traffic accident and 19.9% found to have suffered from cut injuries and there were 5 deaths. 48.3% study subject took treatment in the government hospital because of the affordable cost.Conclusions: This study can help the integrated disease surveillance program to plan data collection on injuries occurring in the community in order to get a comprehensive picture of total morbidity.