Abstract
Background Injuries cause significant morbidity and mortality globally, particularly in lower and middle income countries such as Egypt. Specific aims: 1-Calculate the frequency of injuries requiring; hospitalisation, emergency department (ED) visits, or resulting in death in Cairo within a 12 month period. 2-Calculate the DALYs for each type of injury by age and sex. Methodology A retrospective epidemiological study based upon administratively collected Ministry of Health data among injured patients admitted to 11 major governmental hospitals in 2007, 11.6% of all governmental hospital beds. Data were then generalised to all governmental hospitals based upon the total number of beds. DALYs were calculated for all injuries. Collected data included: age, sex, time of injury, site of injury, nature of injury, cause of injury and outcome. Results In 2007, there were 483 965 ED visits for injuries in Cairo, 2.5% requiring hospitalisation. The estimated incidence rate of injuries was 6023.86 per 100 000 persons. Injuries rates were double in males than females. One third of injuries occurred in the age group 15–24 years. The largest injury category reported was falls (30.8%), followed by animal bites and collision with hard object (24.5%). The injury death rate was 34.8 per 100 000 persons, with RTCs being responsible for the highest rate followed by ‘other unintentional injuries’. Injuries were responsible for an estimated 61 671 DALYs in Cairo. Conclusion Injuries contribute to a substantial amount of morbidity and mortality among the general population in Cairo.