Cargando…

Severe traumatic brain injuries secondary to motor vehicle crashes in two Namibian regions: A retrospective review

INTRODUCTION: Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among trauma patients globally, with motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) being a major contributor. Namibia had a World Health Organization (WHO) estimated MVC-related fatality rate of 30.4 per 100 000 population i...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Ambunda, Paulus, Lourens, Andrit
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: African Federation for Emergency Medicine 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9188956/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35719186
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2022.04.009
_version_ 1784725488107782144
author Ambunda, Paulus
Lourens, Andrit
author_facet Ambunda, Paulus
Lourens, Andrit
author_sort Ambunda, Paulus
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among trauma patients globally, with motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) being a major contributor. Namibia had a World Health Organization (WHO) estimated MVC-related fatality rate of 30.4 per 100 000 population in 2016, higher than that of the African continent, while no epidemiological studies describing the distribution and determinants of TBIs exist in the country. The study aimed to describe the characteristics of adult patients (≥18 years) with severe TBI secondary to MVCs which occurred in two regions of Namibia between the years 2014–2018. METHODS: A retrospective descriptive observational study was conducted in adult patients who sustained severe TBIs secondary to MVCs in two Namibian regions. The inclusion criteria were patients ≥18 years with a severe (as described on the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund system) MVC-related TBI who sustained an injury in the Otjozondjupa or Khomas regions between the years 2014–2018. RESULTS: A total of 87 patients met the inclusion criteria, 65 (74.7%) from the Khomas region, and 22 (25.3%) from the Otjozondjupa region. The overall mean age of patients was 34 years (SD 11.79), most were male (n = 78. 89.7%) and 55.2% (n = 48) of all patients sustained an isolated TBI. The majority of the patients were admitted to a state healthcare facility (n = 52, 59.8%). Pedestrians were the most injured (n = 34, 52.3%) in the Khomas region while vehicle drivers were the most injured (n = 11, 50%) in the Otjozondjupa Region. A total of 34 (39.1%) patients died and 53 (60.9%) were discharged from hospital. Overall, there were no statistically significant relationships between patient outcomes and independent variables. CONCLUSIONS: The study was to our knowledge the first to describe the epidemiology of TBIs in Namibia. Young individuals are the main people who sustained TBIs, which may subsequently place a socio-economic burden on the country. There is however limited research in Namibia to guide healthcare planning.
format Online
Article
Text
id pubmed-9188956
institution National Center for Biotechnology Information
language English
publishDate 2022
publisher African Federation for Emergency Medicine
record_format MEDLINE/PubMed
spelling pubmed-91889562022-06-16 Severe traumatic brain injuries secondary to motor vehicle crashes in two Namibian regions: A retrospective review Ambunda, Paulus Lourens, Andrit Afr J Emerg Med Original Article INTRODUCTION: Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBIs) are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among trauma patients globally, with motor vehicle crashes (MVCs) being a major contributor. Namibia had a World Health Organization (WHO) estimated MVC-related fatality rate of 30.4 per 100 000 population in 2016, higher than that of the African continent, while no epidemiological studies describing the distribution and determinants of TBIs exist in the country. The study aimed to describe the characteristics of adult patients (≥18 years) with severe TBI secondary to MVCs which occurred in two regions of Namibia between the years 2014–2018. METHODS: A retrospective descriptive observational study was conducted in adult patients who sustained severe TBIs secondary to MVCs in two Namibian regions. The inclusion criteria were patients ≥18 years with a severe (as described on the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund system) MVC-related TBI who sustained an injury in the Otjozondjupa or Khomas regions between the years 2014–2018. RESULTS: A total of 87 patients met the inclusion criteria, 65 (74.7%) from the Khomas region, and 22 (25.3%) from the Otjozondjupa region. The overall mean age of patients was 34 years (SD 11.79), most were male (n = 78. 89.7%) and 55.2% (n = 48) of all patients sustained an isolated TBI. The majority of the patients were admitted to a state healthcare facility (n = 52, 59.8%). Pedestrians were the most injured (n = 34, 52.3%) in the Khomas region while vehicle drivers were the most injured (n = 11, 50%) in the Otjozondjupa Region. A total of 34 (39.1%) patients died and 53 (60.9%) were discharged from hospital. Overall, there were no statistically significant relationships between patient outcomes and independent variables. CONCLUSIONS: The study was to our knowledge the first to describe the epidemiology of TBIs in Namibia. Young individuals are the main people who sustained TBIs, which may subsequently place a socio-economic burden on the country. There is however limited research in Namibia to guide healthcare planning. African Federation for Emergency Medicine 2022-09 2022-06-07 /pmc/articles/PMC9188956/ /pubmed/35719186 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2022.04.009 Text en © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of African Federation for Emergency Medicine. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
spellingShingle Original Article
Ambunda, Paulus
Lourens, Andrit
Severe traumatic brain injuries secondary to motor vehicle crashes in two Namibian regions: A retrospective review
title Severe traumatic brain injuries secondary to motor vehicle crashes in two Namibian regions: A retrospective review
title_full Severe traumatic brain injuries secondary to motor vehicle crashes in two Namibian regions: A retrospective review
title_fullStr Severe traumatic brain injuries secondary to motor vehicle crashes in two Namibian regions: A retrospective review
title_full_unstemmed Severe traumatic brain injuries secondary to motor vehicle crashes in two Namibian regions: A retrospective review
title_short Severe traumatic brain injuries secondary to motor vehicle crashes in two Namibian regions: A retrospective review
title_sort severe traumatic brain injuries secondary to motor vehicle crashes in two namibian regions: a retrospective review
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9188956/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35719186
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.afjem.2022.04.009
work_keys_str_mv AT ambundapaulus severetraumaticbraininjuriessecondarytomotorvehiclecrashesintwonamibianregionsaretrospectivereview
AT lourensandrit severetraumaticbraininjuriessecondarytomotorvehiclecrashesintwonamibianregionsaretrospectivereview