Dataset Information

Head injury burden in a major referral hospital emergency centre in Botswana.

ABSTRACT:

Introduction

This study describes the demographics, aetiology, emergency centre diagnosis and severity indicators of patients with head injuries presenting to the largest referral hospital emergency centre in Botswana.

Methods

Cross-sectional retrospective data was collected from July 2015 to September 2015 for all emergency centre head injury presentations at Princess Marina Hospital. Information was extracted from emergency centre records regarding patient demographics, mechanism of injury, clinical observations, diagnosis, and treatment.

Results

Three-hundred and sixty head injury patients presented to the emergency centre in the three months, averaging four per day. 80% were less than 40?years of age and males accounted for 69% of all presentations. 58% of injuries were listed as being accidental, 39% recorded from assaults and 38% from road traffic accidents. The most common emergency centre clinical diagnosis was concussion and the most common radiological diagnosis skull fracture. The median Glasgow Coma Scale was 15 with a range from 3 to 15; and, among patients for whom Revised Trauma Score could be calculated, 79% scored the lowest probability of death in the Revised Trauma Score.

Discussion

Head injury disproportionately overburdened males in this study, and head injury aetiology and demographic picture was similar to regional data. Severity scoring using the Glasgow Coma Scale was only available among 66% of patients and Revised Trauma Score calculable in half of presentations. Only 55% of head injury patients were discharged from the emergency centre, despite the preponderance of low severity scores. Head CTs appear to have been over-utilised and implementation of a Traumatic Head CT guideline for our setting is proposed. This study improves understanding of the burden of head injury in Botswana and advocates for national referral guidelines for patients with head injury in Botswana.

SUBMITTER: Cox M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6223603 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Head injury burden in a major referral hospital emergency centre in Botswana.

Cox Megan M Becker Timothy D TD Motsumi Mpapho M

African journal of emergency medicine : Revue africaine de la medecine d'urgence 20180430 3

<h4>Introduction</h4>This study describes the demographics, aetiology, emergency centre diagnosis and severity indicators of patients with head injuries presenting to the largest referral hospital emergency centre in Botswana.<h4>Methods</h4>Cross-sectional retrospective data was collected from July 2015 to September 2015 for all emergency centre head injury presentations at Princess Marina Hospital. Information was extracted from emergency centre records regarding patient demographics, mechanis ...[more]

PMID: 30456157

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Project description:IntroductionInjury accounts for more than 5.8 million deaths globally with an increasing burden in the developing world. In Kenya, trauma is one of the top 10 leading causes of death. However, no formal continuous injury surveillance systems are in place to inform injury prevention, pre-hospital care or emergency department management. The aim of this study was to implement a hospital-based trauma registry to characterize high acuity injuries presenting to a private tertiary, teaching and referral hospital in Kenya.MethodsFrom January to December 2015, data was prospectively collected at a private tertiary, teaching and referral hospital in Nairobi, Kenya. Patients presenting with a traumatic injury for the first time who were admitted to the hospital for at least 48 hours were included in the study. Basic information pertaining to demographics, details of the injury, pre-hospital care and transport, hospital-based management, length of stay and disposition were collected. An injury severity score (ISS) was calculated on each patient and stratified by the mechanism of injury. Descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression were used to analyze data and assess risk factors associated with injury severity.ResultsThere were 101 patients included in the study, the majority of whom were 30 to 39 years of age and male (63%). Seventy-one per cent of patients had a preexisting medical condition with hypertension (26%) and diabetes (13%) being the most common. The most common mechanism of injury was fall (46%) followed by road traffic incidents (RTI) (32%). Most injuries took place at home (43%). Most RTI were caused by cars (63%), with the driver being the most frequently injured (38%). The most common mode of arrival to the emergency department was by private car (72%). The median time between the accident and arrival at the emergency department was 1hr 10 minutes. The majority of the patients had injuries to one area (83%) with the extremities/bony pelvis (72%) being the most common. The median Injury Severity Score was 5 (range 1-34) with the majority (90%) classified as minor injuries (ISS<12). The highest severity of injury as determined by ISS was seen in gunshot wounds.ConclusionsInjured patients in Kenya showed concordance with prior studies looking at injury prevalence in the developing world when looking at demographics and place of injury. However, differences were found when looking at the mechanism of injury, with falls surpassing road traffic incidents. A delayed presentation to the hospital was also noted in this patient population. Given the rate of traumatic injuries in Kenya and their contribution to morbidity, mortality and overall healthcare costs, there is a need to implement formal trauma registries in all major hospitals in Kenya to generate more data that can be used to improve injury prevention, the overall trauma system and enhance training and preparedness.

Project description:BACKGROUND:The Kingdom of Eswatini, a lower-middle income nation of 1.45 million in southern Africa, has recently identified emergency care as a key strategy to respond to the national disease burden. We aimed to evaluate the current capacity of hospital emergency care areas using the WHO Hospital Emergency Unit Assessment Tool (HEAT) at government referral hospitals in Eswatini. METHODS:We conducted a cross-sectional study of three government referral hospital emergency care areas using HEAT in May 2018. This standardised tool assists healthcare facilities to assess the emergency care delivery capacity in facilities and support in identifying gaps and targeting interventions to strengthen care delivery within emergency care areas. Senior-level emergency care area employees, including senior medical officers and nurse matrons, were interviewed using the HEAT. RESULTS:All sites provided some level of emergency care 24 h a day, 7 days a week, though most had multiple entry points for emergency care. Only one facility had a dedicated area for receiving emergencies and a dedicated resuscitation area; two had triage areas. Facilities had limited capacity to perform signal functions (life-saving procedures that require both skills and resources). Commonly reported barriers included training deficits and lack of access to supplies, medications, and equipment. Sites also lacked formal clinical management and process protocols (such as triage and clinical protocols). CONCLUSIONS:The HEAT highlighted strengths and weaknesses of emergency care delivery within hospitals in Eswatini and identified specific causes of these system and service gaps. In order to improve emergency care outcomes, multiple interventions are needed, including training opportunities, improvement in supply chains, and implementation of clinical and process protocols for emergency care areas. We hope that these findings will allow hospital administrators and planners to develop effective change management plans.

Project description:INTRODUCTION:The World Health Organization recently recognized the importance of emergency and trauma care in reducing morbidity and mortality. Training programs are essential to improving emergency care in low-resource settings; however, a paucity of comprehensive curricula focusing specifically on pediatric emergency medicine (PEM) currently exists. The African Federation for Emergency Medicine (AFEM) developed a PEM curriculum that was pilot-tested in a non-randomized, controlled study to evaluate its effectiveness in nurses working in a public Tanzanian referral hospital. METHODS:Fifteen nurses were recruited to participate in a two-and-a-half-day curriculum of lectures, skill sessions, and simulation scenarios covering nine topics; they were matched with controls. Both groups completed pre- and post-training assessments of their knowledge (multiple-choice test), self-efficacy (Likert surveys), and behavior. Changes in behavior were assessed using a binary checklist of critical actions during observations of live pediatric resuscitations. RESULTS:Participant-rated pre-training self-efficacy and knowledge test scores were similar in both control and intervention groups. However, post-training, self-efficacy ratings in the intervention group increased by a median of 11.5 points (interquartile range [IQR]: 6-16) while unchanged in the control group. Knowledge test scores also increased by a median of three points (IQR: 0-4) in the nurses who received the training while the control group's results did not differ in the two periods. A total of 1192 pediatric resuscitation cases were observed post-training, with the intervention group demonstrating higher rates of performance of three of 27 critical actions. CONCLUSION:This pilot study of the AFEM PEM curriculum for nurses has shown it to be an effective tool in knowledge acquisition and improved self-efficacy of pediatric emergencies. Further evaluation will be needed to assess whether it is currently effective in changing nurse behavior and patient outcomes or whether curricular modifications are needed.

Dataset Information

Head injury burden in a major referral hospital emergency centre in Botswana.

Introduction

Methods

Results

Discussion

Publications

Head injury burden in a major referral hospital emergency centre in Botswana.

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