Epidemiological Profile of Trauma Victims Attending a Tertiary Care Hospital in Delhi and Application of Haddon Matrix to Identify Risk Factors of Road Traffic Accidents

Background: Injury is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in both developed and developing nations, accounting for 12% of total global burden of disease worldwide and the fourth leading cause of death for all ages. The aim of this study was to improve the understanding of the mode of trauma, severity of injuries, and analyzing the injury patterns to determine the factors associated with their outcomes. Objectives: To study the epidemiological profile of trauma victims attending the emergency department, to identify the risk factors of road traffic accidents (RTA) using Haddon Matrix and the factors associated with the outcomes of injury in these patients. Methodology: Cross-sectional hospital based study was conducted amongst 248 patients with injuries aged 15 years and above coming to the Emergency department (ED) using a predesigned semi-structured interview schedule. 9 cell Haddon Matrix was also used for recording the host, agent and environmental factors existing in the pre-event, event and post event phase of the injury. Results: The mean age of the study participants was found to be 38.06 years with a SD of 16.26. Road traffic accident emerged as the single most important mode of injury (50.8%), followed by fall (23.6%) and assault (13.2%). The mean Glasgow Coma score of the study participants was 13.25 + 3.14 (mean + SD). Around 13% of the participants had sustained vascular injury during the accident. Important host factors identified in Haddon Matrix leading to RTA were over speeding, young age of participants, alcohol intake and fatigue of the driver. Conclusion: Our study shows that RTA and falls are the predominant causes of trauma.