Incidence and outcome of injury in Ghana: a community-based survey

Injury is an increasingly significant health problem in most low-income cou ntries. However, strategies for preventing injury have not been well addres sed. The present study was carried out to measure the incidence and outcome of various mechanisms of injury in Ghana in order to provide data for use in developing priorities for injury prevention efforts. For this purpose, u sing two-stage cluster sampling and household interviews, we surveyed 21 10 5 persons living in 431 urban and rural sites. During the preceding year, 1 609 injuries resulting in one or more days of loss of normal activity were reported. Injury-related mortality was slightly higher in the urban (83 per 100 000) than in the rural area (53 per 100 000). However, the burden of d isability from nonfatal injuries, as assessed by disability days, was highe r in the rural (4697 disability days per 1000 person-years) than in the urb an area (2671 days per 1000 person-years). Based on incidence rates and dis ability times, the major types of injury in the urban area were transport-r elated injury and falls. In the rural area, agricultural injuries predomina ted, followed by falls and transport-related injury. In rural and urban are as combined, 73% of motor vehicle-related injuries involved commercial vehi cles. In this and other similar developing-country settings, injury prevent ion efforts should focus on falls and on transport safety in both urban and rural areas, with special attention being paid to commercial vehicles. In rural areas, agricultural injuries contributed the largest burden of morbid ity, and should be a priority for prevention efforts.