This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hoang Minh Hang, Articles by Svanström, L. Search for Related Content PubMed Articles by Hoang Minh Hang, Articles by Svanström, L. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Community-based assessment of unintentional injuries: a pilot study in rural Vietnam

Department of Biostatistics, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam, hmhang70{at}hotmail.com

Robert Ekman

Division of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Ton That Bach

Department of Surgery, Hanoi Medical University, Hanoi, Vietnam

Peter Byass

UmeÅ International School of Public Health, UmeÅ University, UmeÅ, Sweden

Leif Svanström

Division of Social Medicine, Department of Public Health Sciences, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden

Aims: Although unintentional injuries are recognised as a major public health problem globally, little is known about their patterns and rates at the community level in most low-income countries. Rapid social development, leading to increased traffic and industrialization, may be changing patterns of injury. Injuries within the home environment have not so far been recognized to the same extent as traffic and work-related injuries in Vietnam, largely because they have not been effectively counted. This study took place in northern Vietnam, in the context of a longitudinal community surveillance site called FilaBavi, as a pilot project aiming to determine the community incidence of unintentional injury and to explore appropriate methods for community-based injury surveillance. Methods: An initial study population of 23,807 was identified and asked about their experience of injury in the preceding three months. Results: Overall 450 new injuries were detected over 5,952 person-years, a rate of 76 per 1,000 person-years. Males were injured at 1.6 times the rate of females, and home and road traffic accidents were most common. Most injuries occurred during unpaid household tasks. Cutting and crushing injuries occurred most frequently. Of 221 deaths from all causes in the FilaBavi population during 1999 among 43,444 person-years, 25 were attributed to unintentional injuries and two to suicide. Unintentional injury was the third leading cause of death in this community, with a case-fatality rate of 0.8%. Discussion: The findings suggest that greater attention needs to be directed toward the prevention of injuries occurring in the home in rural Vietnam. On the basis of this pilot study, a one-year study using the same approach is under way to characterize the patterns of unintentional injury in more detail, including any seasonal variation.

Key Words: community-based • surveillance • unintentional injury • Vietnam.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Nguyen Thi Kim Chuc and V. K. Diwan FilaBavi, a demographic surveillance site, an epidemiological field laboratory in Vietnam Scand J Public Health, December 1, 2003; 31(6_suppl): 3 - 7. [Abstract] [PDF]

				Nguyen Thi Kim Chuc and V. K. Diwan FilaBavi, a demographic surveillance site, an epidemiological field laboratory in Vietnam Scand J Public Health, January 1, 2003; 31(1): 3 - 7. [Abstract] [PDF]