Characteristics of domestic accidents and related factors in karataş district of Adana Province, Turkey [Türkiye’de Adana ilinin karataş ilçesinde ev kazaları ve ilişkili faktörler]

Background: Domestic accidents (DA) are an important, but still neglected public health problem in Turkey. We aimed to determine the prevalence of DA, their physical and residential characteristics, including affecting factors, in the centre of semi-rural Mediterranean District Karataş of Turkey. Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study, performed between October 2011 and April 2012 with face-to-face interviews by the researcher physician, collected DA data about 569 people living in 141 houses, selected by simple random sampling method, among 2726 houses. Results: DA frequency was 45.4% and 30.2% in terms of houses included in the study and the whole population resident in those houses, respectively. DA most frequently occurred in kitchen (38.9%), affecting mostly upper extremities (45.9%). Most of the injured, i.e.124(72.1%) people didn’t apply to any health institution; 43(25.0%) people were treated at outpatient departments. Only 5(2.9%) required hospitalization. None of the accidents resulted in death. The season with the highest frequency of accidents was found to be the summer. DA frequency was positively proportional to the house-hold size (p0.05). Conclusion: Primary health service providing institutions can be suggested for the determination of risk factors for DA in addition to the establi shment of a national accidents surveillance system. © GATA