New Data on Unintentional Childhood Injuries in Pakistan

In a recently published article, Johns Hopkins International Injury Research Unit (JH-IIRU) and collaborators from the Department of Emergency Medicine at Aga Khan University (DEM-AKU) examine unintentional childhood home injuries in Karachi, Pakistan. JH-IIRU director, Adnan Hyder and AKU-DEM director, Junaid Razzak amongst other colleagues participated in this surveillance study.
The article, “Understanding Unintentional Childhood Home Injuries: Pilot Surveillance Data from Karachi, Pakistan,” which appears BMC Research Notes, analyzed results of a previous pilot surveillance study done on unintentional childhood injuries presenting to emergency departments in both public and private hospitals in Karachi. Their findings revealed that of the approximately 400 injuries that occurred in the home, falls made up the majority at 59%, followed by dog bites, burn injuries and road traffic injuries. Most of these injuries occurred during play time. Fifty-four percent of the children were between 5-11 years old and 41% were between 1-4 years old.

This kind of analysis not only helps to define the kinds of unintentional injuries that are most prominent among hospitals in a particular area, but also help researchers concentrate intervention and control strategies, such as defining and adhering to building standards for homes, controlling stray dogs and installing traffic calming measures in residential areas.

Like JH-IIRU, the Department of Emergency Medicine at Aga Khan University (DEM-AKU) is a World Health Organization Collaborating Center for Emergency Medicine and this collaborative project represents collaborating centers working together to better understand the burden of injuries in low income countries.

To access this article, click here: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3337295/?tool=pubmed

To find out more about unintentional childhood injuries, contact us at IIRU@jhsph.edu