title: The use of hospital medical records for child injury surveillance in northern Malawi.
abstract: Our study evaluates the usefulness and the limitations of using the medical records of a central referral hospital to develop a child injury surveillance system in northern Malawi. The most prevalent types of injury were falls (29.6%), road traffic injuries (22.0%), burns (21.4%) and poisoning (15.1%). Older children (aged 5-14 years), in the cool-dry season (May to August) and the hot-dry season (September to October), were significant predictors for total injury admissions. Our study indicated that hospital medical records are a valuable component of a child injury surveillance system and can illustrate the trends and patterns of moderate to severe injuries as well as suggest potential prevention strategies for local settings. Combined with a specially designed trauma registry form, it is possible for developing countries at local level to combat the emerging public health issues.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, College of Medicine, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Kwong Leung
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Chin Nam
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Bong
authors.forename: Meng Chuan
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chih Cheng
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Ying Chin
authors.initials: YC
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Po Ya
authors.initials: PY
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Tai Heng
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hung Che
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chiang
mesh_terms: D000058:Accidental Falls / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D002056:Burns / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008295:Malawi / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D011041:Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012042:Registries