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Injury characteristics and their association with clinical complications among emergency care patients in Tanzania.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Zimmerman, A; Barcenas, LK; Pesambili, M; Sakita, F; Mallya, S; Vissoci, JRN; Park, L; Mmbaga, BT; Bettger, JP; Staton, CA
Published in: Afr J Emerg Med
December 2022

BACKGROUND: Over 5 million people annually die from injuries and millions more sustain non-fatal injuries requiring medical care. Ninety percent of injury deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study describes the characteristics, predictors and outcomes of adult acute injury patients presenting to a tertiary referral hospital in a low-income country in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS: This secondary analysis uses an adult acute injury registry from Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre (KCMC) in Moshi, Tanzania. We describe this patient sample in terms of socio-demographics, clinical indicators, injury patterns, treatments, and outcomes at hospital discharge. Outcomes include mortality, length of hospital stay, and functional independence. Associations between patient characteristics and patient outcomes are quantified using Cox proportional hazards models, negative binomial regression, and multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: Of all injury patients (n=1365), 39.0% were aged 30 to 49 years and 81.5% were men. Most patients had at least a primary school education (89.6%) and were employed (89.3%). A majority of injuries were road traffic (63.2%), fall (16.8%), or assault (14.0%) related. Self-reported comorbidities included hypertension (5.8%), HIV (3.1%), and diabetes (2.3%). Performed surgeries were classified as orthopedic (32.3%), general (4.1%), neurological (3.7%), or other (59.8%). Most patients reached the hospital at least four hours after injury occurred (53.9%). Mortality was 5.3%, median length of hospital stay was 6.1 days (IQR: 3.1, 15.0), self-care dependence was 54.2%, and locomotion dependence was 41.5%. CONCLUSIONS: Our study sample included primarily young men suffering road traffic crashes with delayed hospital presentations and prolonged hospital stays. Being older, male, and requiring non-orthopedic surgeries or having HIV portends a worse prognosis. Prevention and treatment focused interventions to reduce the burden of injury mortality and morbidity at KCMC are needed to lower injury rates and improve injury outcomes.

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Published In

Afr J Emerg Med

DOI

EISSN

2211-4203

Publication Date

December 2022

Volume

12

Issue

4

Start / End Page

378 / 386

Location

Netherlands

Related Subject Headings

  • 3202 Clinical sciences
 

Citation

APA
Chicago
ICMJE
MLA
NLM
Zimmerman, A., Barcenas, L. K., Pesambili, M., Sakita, F., Mallya, S., Vissoci, J. R. N., … Staton, C. A. (2022). Injury characteristics and their association with clinical complications among emergency care patients in Tanzania. Afr J Emerg Med, 12(4), 378–386. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2022.08.001
Zimmerman, Armand, Loren K. Barcenas, Msafiri Pesambili, Francis Sakita, Simon Mallya, Joao Ricardo Nickenig Vissoci, Lawrence Park, Blandina T. Mmbaga, Janet Prvu Bettger, and Catherine A. Staton. “Injury characteristics and their association with clinical complications among emergency care patients in Tanzania.Afr J Emerg Med 12, no. 4 (December 2022): 378–86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2022.08.001.
Zimmerman A, Barcenas LK, Pesambili M, Sakita F, Mallya S, Vissoci JRN, et al. Injury characteristics and their association with clinical complications among emergency care patients in Tanzania. Afr J Emerg Med. 2022 Dec;12(4):378–86.
Zimmerman, Armand, et al. “Injury characteristics and their association with clinical complications among emergency care patients in Tanzania.Afr J Emerg Med, vol. 12, no. 4, Dec. 2022, pp. 378–86. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/j.afjem.2022.08.001.
Zimmerman A, Barcenas LK, Pesambili M, Sakita F, Mallya S, Vissoci JRN, Park L, Mmbaga BT, Bettger JP, Staton CA. Injury characteristics and their association with clinical complications among emergency care patients in Tanzania. Afr J Emerg Med. 2022 Dec;12(4):378–386.

Published In

Afr J Emerg Med

DOI

EISSN

2211-4203

Publication Date

December 2022

Volume

12

Issue

4

Start / End Page

378 / 386

Location

Netherlands

Related Subject Headings

  • 3202 Clinical sciences