Journal of Trauma - Injury, Infection and Critical Care
Volume 66, Issue 3, 2009, Pages 888-894

Injury patterns in long-term refugee populations: A survey of Afghan refugees (Article)

Hyder A.A. , Ghaffar A. , Masud T.I. , Bachani A.M. , Nasir K.
  • a Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States, Center for Injury Research and Policy, Baltimore, MD, United States
  • b Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean Region, World Health Organization, Cairo, Egypt
  • c Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
  • d Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 North Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205, United States
  • e Division of Cardiology, Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, MD, United States

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Injuries account for approximately 15% of global disability- adjusted life years lost each year and have an even greater impact on loss of life in vulnerable populations. For refugees, injuries reflect consequences of previous actions in their location of origin, current behavioral trends, and assimilation of risk factors from their adopted location. The Afghan Refugee Injury Survey (ARIS) was undertaken to describe the epidemiology of injuries in the long-term Afghan refugee population residing in Pakistan in 2002. METHODS: ARIS is a cross-sectional survey of injuries, injury-related deaths, and disability administrated on a representative sample of households in selected Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. The sample design was a stratified, systematic sample of all households in the study area. RESULTS: Altogether, 1,123 households, with 8,809 persons (51% males; mean age, 20 years ± 17 years) were surveyed. One hundred twelve persons (1.27%, 95% CI = 1.0-1.5%) were injured during a 3-month recall period (69% males), reflecting an all-injury incidence of 50.8 per 1,000 persons/year. CONCLUSIONS: Our study provides an epidemiologic profile of injuries in Afghan refugees in Pakistan which can be used to inform policy makers, public health professionals, and healthcare providers to support injury prevention as a component of refugee health care. © 2009 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, Inc.

Author Keywords

Pakistan Injury surveys Developing countries Afghan Refugees Injuries

Index Keywords

Pakistan Afghanistan household refugee survival rate developing country Wounds and Injuries Developing Countries human Refugees middle aged statistics injury priority journal Aged death Health Surveys ethnology Cross-Sectional Studies cross-sectional study Humans Adolescent male case report preschool child female Infant Child, Preschool Incidence Article health care adult Accident Prevention disability mortality Child health survey
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-68149168422&doi=10.1097%2fTA.0b013e3181627614&partnerID=40&md5=5140253df7d13542153c76a9214eaee4
DOI: 10.1097/TA.0b013e3181627614
ISSN: 00225282
Cited by: 7
Original Language: English