title: Analysis of trauma admission data at an urban hospital in Maputo, Mozambique.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Trauma is a major public health concern. Worldwide, injuries resulted in 4.8 million deaths in 2013, an increase of 11 % since 1990. The majority of deaths from trauma in low-and middle-income countries occur in a pre-hospital setting. Morbidity from trauma contributes significantly to disability in these countries. Mozambique has experienced a rise in injury-related morbidity and mortality. Efforts are underway to prioritize surgical and anesthesiology care in the post-2015 Global Surgery agenda that will build on momentum of the Millennium Development Goals. Injury surveillance remains vital to defining priorities and implementing policy changes.
  
  
  METHODS
  We performed a cross-sectional study between June and September, 2010 at the Hospital Central de Maputo (HCM). Data were collected on all patients admitted to the HCM emergency surgical services with a diagnosis of trauma. We describe patient characteristics and mechanism of traumatic injury by calculating simple proportions (for dichotomous or categorical variables) or medians with interquartile ranges (IQR) for continuous variables. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the mechanisms of trauma most associated with alcohol consumption.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 517 patients were approached for inclusion in this study. Of these, 441 (91.5 %) participants were followed from admission until discharge. Three hundred twenty-four participants (73.5 %) were male. The most common age group was 20-29 years old. The three principal mechanisms of injury were road traffic injury, fighting, and falls, accounting for 74 % of injuries recorded. Traumatic injury involving alcohol consumption was nine times more likely to occur at a recreation/sporting event (OR 9.0, 95 % CI 3.01-27.13, p ≤ 0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  As Mozambique prepares to respond to the post-2015 international development agenda, urgent action is required to scale-up its national injury surveillance networks. Injury prevention efforts in Mozambique should focus attention on improving road safety regulations and their implementation, as well as on interventions targeting violence reduction and the reduction of alcohol consumption at sporting events.
authors.affiliation: Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion Research Unit, University of Eduardo Mondlane, Salvador Allende Avenue, 702, Maputo, Mozambique.
authors.forename: Cátia Luciana Abdulfattáhe
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Taibo
authors.affiliation: Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Vanderbilt Institute for Global Health, 2525 West End Ave Suite 750, Nashville, TN, 37203, USA. troy.moon@vanderbilt.edu.
authors.forename: Troy D
authors.initials: TD
authors.lastname: Moon
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Eduardo Mondlane, Salvador Allende Avenue, 702, Maputo, Mozambique.
authors.forename: Orvalho A
authors.initials: OA
authors.lastname: Joaquim
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Eduardo Mondlane, Salvador Allende Avenue, 702, Maputo, Mozambique.
authors.forename: Carlos R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Machado
authors.affiliation: Division of Trauma and Surgical Critical Care, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 12ll S. 21st Ave, 404 MAB, Nashville, TN, 37212, USA.
authors.forename: Amina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Merchant
authors.affiliation: Department of Anesthesiology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 1301 Medical Center Drive, #4648 TVC, Nashville, TN, 37232, USA.
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McQueen
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Eduardo Mondlane, Salvador Allende Avenue, 702, Maputo, Mozambique.
authors.forename: Mohsin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sidat
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Eduardo Mondlane, Salvador Allende Avenue, 702, Maputo, Mozambique.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Folgosa
keywords: Injury; Mozambique; Sub-Saharan Africa; Trauma