Characteristics and gender differences of accident case reports in a teaching hospital in Nigeria: A four-year retrospective hospital case file analysis

Abstract

To describe the characteristics and determine gender differences of accident cases reported at the Accident and Emergency Department (AED) of University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital (UPTH), Nigeria from January 1, 2013, to 31st December 2017. A descriptive retrospective study employing a systematic sampling of one-in-five patients in the AED nurses register of the UPTH. Patients' demographics, referral departments, and injury classification were extracted from the case files. Data was analysed using frequencies and Chi-square. Four hundred and forty-six patients [male (n=307, 68.8%)] were selected out of 2234 cases. The highest number of accidents (54.2%) occurred among patients aged 21- 40 years. About 67.9% were road traffic accidents (RTA), 23.4% as domestic accident and 8.7% reported as occupational accident. The highest number of accidents (n=157) occurred in 2013 and January/April (n=56 each). Accident cases were classified as head injuries (24.7%) and referred to the orthopaedic department (33.6%). A chi-square showed a significant interaction [χ²= (2) = 25.73, p<0.00001], indicating that male patients (73.6%) suffered more head injury than female (26.4%). Male patients had RTA (73.6%) and occupational accident (84.6%) than female patients. This study's findings should be treated as hypothesis-generating results, as we did not evaluate the total number of cases reported in the AED. Therefore, these findings should be interpreted with caution. There is a need to develop a more extensive population-based epidemiological study to explore the predictors of accidents reported in Nigeria's hospitals. Regardless, road traffic accidents seem to be the leading cause of accident presented at the A & E of UPTH, occurring mostly at the year's festive periods. Occupational health hazard was less reported. Efforts to reduce road traffic accident, especially during the festive periods, is highly recommended.