An Indian community-based epidemiological study of wounds.
OBJECTIVE
To establish the prevalence of wounds in a community, with an emphasis on chronic lower extremity wounds, and to identify the various aetiological factors involved.


METHODS
A cross-sectional study was conducted to screen the population of two nearby communities (one urban and one rural) in India for wounds. This involved conducting a door-to-door survey between July 2001 and February 2003.


RESULTS
The prevalence of wounds in the population studied (n = 6917) was 15.03 per 1000. The prevalences of acute and chronic wounds were 10.55 and 4.48 per 1000 of the population respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
The most common site for both acute and chronic wounds was the lower extremity. In contrast to Western studies, the most common aetiology for a chronic lower extremity wound was an untreated acute traumatic wound. This in turn highlights the need to establish community-based wound-care teams in India.
Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasl, India.
N
N
Gupta
S K
SK
Gupta
V K
VK
Shukla
S P
SP
Singh
D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010146:Pain / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012648:Self Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*