Short communication: Injury Profile in an Emergency Department at a Referral Hospital in Kigali, Rwanda

Abstract

Injuries constitute a major public health problem, killing more than 5 million people worldwide each year and causing more cases of disability. Countries need baseline information on injury pattern to develop intervention strategies. A quantitative, retrospective, descriptive study was conducted at a referral hospital in Kigali Rwanda. The aim was to identify the causes of injuries, to determine the frequencies and distribution of injuries according to cause, gender, age, location, and categories of injuries, and to assess the probability of injury survival. Out of 101 subjects, 31.7% were female while 68.3% were male. A number of injuries were identified among young males in the age group 16-30 years in the urban area. The major cause of injury was road traffic accidents (RTA).