EPIDEMIC OF STAB INJURIES: AN ALICE SPRINGS DILEMMA

This study is unique in that it strives to unfold, perhaps for the first time, the problem of stab injuries and resultant significant mortality and morbidity within the Aboriginal population of Central Australia. Demographic features presented in the study are quite different from other published Au...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ANZ journal of surgery 2007-08, Vol.77 (8), p.621-625
Main Authors: Jacob, Abraham O, Boseto, Fred, Ollapallil, Jacob
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aborigines
Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Australia - epidemiology
Child
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
penetrating trauma
stab injuries
Thigh - injuries
thigh wounds
town camps
Violence
Wounds, Stab - epidemiology
Wounds, Stab - mortality
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Summary:This study is unique in that it strives to unfold, perhaps for the first time, the problem of stab injuries and resultant significant mortality and morbidity within the Aboriginal population of Central Australia. Demographic features presented in the study are quite different from other published Australasian and overseas experiences. There were 1550 stab injury admissions to Alice Springs Hospital during a 7‐year period (July 1998 to June 2005). Thirty‐two patients were dead before arrival, and there were only three deaths in the hospital during the period of study. The most unique demographic feature was that 99.99% were Aborigines, 53% were women and the most common location of injury was in town camps and homes. The mean age of this population was 31 years, and the average length of stay in hospital was 3 days. The most common site of the stab injuries was the thigh with a total of 605 (38%). Stab injuries to the abdomen were significantly low with 68 (
ISSN:1445-1433
1445-2197
DOI:10.1111/j.1445-2197.2007.04174.x