HEAD-INJURY IN URBAN AND RURAL POPULATIONS IN A DEVELOPING-COUNTRY

A population based comparative study of head injury in Taiwan was cond ucted from January to December 1993. Taipei City was selected to repre sent an urban population and Hualien County its rural counterpart, A t otal of 4955 case of head injury in Taipei and 1069 cases in Hualien w ere studied, The head injury incidence rate in Hualien is about two ti mes that of Taipei, Traffic accident related head injuries, especially motorcycle accidents, accounted for a larger percentage of cases in H ualien than in Taipei, In terms of mortality rate, the injuries tended to be more fatal in Hualien. The preliminary data clearly show that t here exist major geographical differences of head injury patterns in u rban and rural areas in a developing country, Preventative measures, s pecifically focusing on motorcycle accident related head injury, need to be adopted to deal with this serious problem. (C) Pearson Professio nal Ltd 1997.