The Pattern of Injuries among the Victims of the Bam Earthquake

Background: On December 26, 2003 an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, shook the city of Bam in the south east of Iran and killed more than 40000 people and nearly 30000 were injured. This is an epidemiological study performed on the victims of Bam earthquake to analyze different types o...

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Main Authors: K Ashraf Ganjouei, L Ekhlaspour, E Iranmanesh, P Poorian, N Ashraf Ganjooei, F Rashid-Farokhi, S Karamuzian
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Tehran University of Medical Sciences 2008-09-01
Series:Iranian Journal of Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/2036
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author K Ashraf Ganjouei
L Ekhlaspour
E Iranmanesh
P Poorian
N Ashraf Ganjooei
F Rashid-Farokhi
S Karamuzian
author_facet K Ashraf Ganjouei
L Ekhlaspour
E Iranmanesh
P Poorian
N Ashraf Ganjooei
F Rashid-Farokhi
S Karamuzian
author_sort K Ashraf Ganjouei
collection DOAJ
description Background: On December 26, 2003 an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, shook the city of Bam in the south east of Iran and killed more than 40000 people and nearly 30000 were injured. This is an epidemiological study performed on the victims of Bam earthquake to analyze different types of injuries of patients admitted in Kerman hospitals. Methods:  In a retrospective cross-sectional study the medical records of 1250 victims of Bam earthquake admitted in Kerman hospitals from December 26, 2003 till 21 March, 2004 were reviewed and general demographic data such as age, sex, date of admission, type and anatomical site of injuries, diagnoses and complications were recorded. Results: More than half of the patients were male. The mean age was 29.28±11.89 years. Lower limb injuries (40.8%) and pelvic injuries (26.2%) were the most common. The least common injury was chest injury (10.9%). More than 50% of pa­tients had fractures. There were associations between chest injuries, vertebral column injuries and abdominal injuries and between vertebral column, chest and skull fractures. The numbers of injury and fracture locations for each patient were 0.186±0.11 and 0.0886±0.098, respectively. Conclusions: The study of individual factors and associations between different locations of injuries indicates a careful physical examinations and attention to special groups. It is important to use findings of epidemiologic studies on disasters to establish well-organized crisis registration system for the next disasters.
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spelling doaj.art-b524e9174ef44dd1a6779084b062121a2022-12-21T23:14:40ZengTehran University of Medical SciencesIranian Journal of Public Health2251-60852251-60932008-09-01373The Pattern of Injuries among the Victims of the Bam EarthquakeK Ashraf Ganjouei0L Ekhlaspour 1E Iranmanesh 2P Poorian 3N Ashraf Ganjooei 4F Rashid-Farokhi 5S Karamuzian 6Social Security Organization of Iran, Kerman Neuroscience Research Center, Afzal Research Institute, Kerman Physiology Research Center, Afzal Research Institute, Iran Education Development Center, Deputy of Education, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran Researcher of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, IranKerman Neuroscience Research Center, IranDept.of Nephrology, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDept. of Neurosurgery, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, IranBackground: On December 26, 2003 an earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, shook the city of Bam in the south east of Iran and killed more than 40000 people and nearly 30000 were injured. This is an epidemiological study performed on the victims of Bam earthquake to analyze different types of injuries of patients admitted in Kerman hospitals. Methods:  In a retrospective cross-sectional study the medical records of 1250 victims of Bam earthquake admitted in Kerman hospitals from December 26, 2003 till 21 March, 2004 were reviewed and general demographic data such as age, sex, date of admission, type and anatomical site of injuries, diagnoses and complications were recorded. Results: More than half of the patients were male. The mean age was 29.28±11.89 years. Lower limb injuries (40.8%) and pelvic injuries (26.2%) were the most common. The least common injury was chest injury (10.9%). More than 50% of pa­tients had fractures. There were associations between chest injuries, vertebral column injuries and abdominal injuries and between vertebral column, chest and skull fractures. The numbers of injury and fracture locations for each patient were 0.186±0.11 and 0.0886±0.098, respectively. Conclusions: The study of individual factors and associations between different locations of injuries indicates a careful physical examinations and attention to special groups. It is important to use findings of epidemiologic studies on disasters to establish well-organized crisis registration system for the next disasters.https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/2036EarthquakeInjuryIran
spellingShingle K Ashraf Ganjouei
L Ekhlaspour
E Iranmanesh
P Poorian
N Ashraf Ganjooei
F Rashid-Farokhi
S Karamuzian
The Pattern of Injuries among the Victims of the Bam Earthquake
Iranian Journal of Public Health
Earthquake
Injury
Iran
title The Pattern of Injuries among the Victims of the Bam Earthquake
title_full The Pattern of Injuries among the Victims of the Bam Earthquake
title_fullStr The Pattern of Injuries among the Victims of the Bam Earthquake
title_full_unstemmed The Pattern of Injuries among the Victims of the Bam Earthquake
title_short The Pattern of Injuries among the Victims of the Bam Earthquake
title_sort pattern of injuries among the victims of the bam earthquake
topic Earthquake
Injury
Iran
url https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/2036
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