Camel racing injuries among children.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study is to determine the frequency and severity of camel racing injuries among children aged 5 to 15 years during the period 1992 to 2003 in the State of Qatar.


METHODS
Case series.


METHODS
The study was conducted in the Hamad General Hospital, State of Qatar, from January 1992 to December 2003.


METHODS
A total of 275 subjects aged 5 to 15 years with camel racing injuries who were seen at the Accident Emergency Department, Critical Care, and Physiotherapy Departments of the Hamad General Hospital were studied. The sociodemographic information and the details of the injury of the studied subjects were collected. The Abbreviated Injury Scale system was used to determine the severity of injury.


RESULTS
Overall, 275 camel racing injuries were reported among boys aged 5 to 15 years. The majority of patients were Sudanese (91.3%). The most commonly injured locations were upper limb (23.2%), lower limb (21.1%), and head (20.7%), followed by other injury locations. Seventeen patients were disabled as a result of their injury, and another 3 injuries were fatal. This study revealed that 34% of injuries were considered to be minor, 22.1% moderate, 18.1% serious, 11.6% critical, and 6.4% maximum.


CONCLUSIONS
The injury severity caused by the camel racing significantly affected the length of hospital stay. At present, the government is serious about this problem, and there is a draft of proposed legislation intended to prevent the employment of children below the age of 12 as camel jockeys.
Bener
Abdulbari
A
Department of Medical Statistics and Epidemiology, Hamad General Hospital, Hamad Medical Corporation, University of Qatar, Doha, Qatar. abener@hmc.org.qa
Al-Mulla
Fatima H
FH
Al-Humoud
Suhail M Q
SM
Azhar
Abdulaziz
A
D015998:Abbreviated Injury Scale; D000293:Adolescent; D000818:Animals; D001265:Athletic Injuries / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D002162:Camelus; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011780:Qatar / Q000453:epidemiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013397:Sudan / Q000208:ethnology