A Cross Sectional Study on Domestic Accidents in Selected Villages in Sankarankovil Tirunelveli District, Tamil Nadu – 2014

BACKGROUND: Injuries are a major public health problem. In ancient days injuries were considered as unavoidable. But in the past decades, epidemiology and preventable nature of injuries have been understood better. The higher health burden of injuries are due to recently increasing technologies, changes in life style, increasing population leading to crowded and unsafe settlements, and increasing use of electrical and other devices. Today danger of injury presents not only in roads but also at home, working places and also in playgrounds. Previous studies reported the prevalence of domestic accidents varying from 1 to 30%. Accidents which occurs at home or its immediate surroundings are called domestic accidents and it does not include accidents related to traffic, workplace, or sports. In developing countries the problem is more severe particularly in rural areas due to informal dwellings. OBJECTIVES: This study is done to find out the prevalence andthe associated risk factorsof domestic accidents in rural areas and to find out the treatment seeking behaviour of the people for domestic accidents. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross sectional community based study was done using a validated semi-structured questionnairein Sankarankovil HUD from December 2013 to September 2014. Multi stage cluster sampling was used. One year recall period was used to find the prevalence of domestic accidents. Socio demographic details,Injury details and treatment details were obtained by interview and by reviewing the records that were with the participants. RESULTS: A sample size of 480 was included in the analysis. The overall prevalence of domestic accidents was 11.7%. Domestic accidents were common in extreme age groups i.e. children 0-14 years (14.4%) and elderly >60 years (31.6%) and males. Fall was found to be the commonest mode of injury (42.9%). Nearly 43% of injuries were mild injuries like abrasions and lacerations. Lower limbs (42.9%) were found to be the commonly affected body part. Most (43%)of them injured during house hold works and in immediate surroundings (51.8%) of the houses. 41% of the injured took treatment in home itself, 39% got inpatient treatment and 20% had only outpatient treatment. Almost 93% treated got improved, 3.6% developed deformity/disability and 3.6% were improving. Presence of slippery floor, presence of open fire, presence of sharp objects within reach were found to be strongly associated with fall, burns, injury by sharps respectively. Semi-pucca and kaccha house types were significantly associated with the accidents in home than the pucca house. CONCLUSION: So the study findings concluded that there is some association between risky home environment and domestic accidents and we can reduce the accidents if the risky environment is modified and by giving proper supervision and care to the dependant age groups