title: The burden of trauma in four rural district hospitals in Malawi:  a retrospective review of medical records.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Few injury surveillance systems collect data in sub-Saharan Africa. This medical record review of four rural hospitals provides baseline data on the burden of trauma in Malawi.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed all outpatient, inpatient, and mortuary records for one full year at four of the 28 district hospitals in Malawi: Dedza in central Malawi, Mangochi in the east, Nkhata Bay in the north, and Thyolo in the south. We used descriptive and comparative statistics to examine characteristics of patients and the data file.
  
  
  RESULTS
  During 2012, 18,735 trauma patients were treated at the four district hospitals. Trauma cases accounted for 3.5% of the 541,170 patient visits. In total, 60.8% of trauma patients were male; 39.1% were 0–14 years old and 50.4% were 15–49 years old. The logbooks were missing information about the primary type of injury for 44.9% of patients and about injury cause for 82.7%. Of the recorded trauma diagnoses, the most common injuries were soft tissue injuries, fractures, and sprains. The most commonly reported causes of injuries were animal bites (mostly dog bites), road traffic injuries, assaults, burns, and falls.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The development and implementation of improved methods for acquiring more complete, accurate, and useful trauma data in Malawi and other low-income countries requires addressing difficulties that might result in missing data. Increased injury surveillance is critical for improving trauma care and meeting the emerging global demand for burden of disease data.
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chokotho
authors.forename: Wakisa
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Mulwafu
authors.forename: Kathryn H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.forename: Hemant
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Pandit
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lavy
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006295:Health Resources; D006767:Hospitals, District; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008295:Malawi / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008499:Medical Records; D008875:Middle Aged; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011634:Public Health; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000191:economics / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control