In Her Lifetime Female Morbidity and Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa (1996) / Chapter Skim
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8 Injury
8 Injury
Pages 169-182
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From page 169... ...
While other intentional and unintentional injuries including violence, motor vehicle and other road traffic accidents, and falls-appear to affect Sub-Saharan African males more commonly than they do women, it is expected that rates between males and females will equalize over time for reasons described later in this chapter. Thus, the evidence for these other kinds of injury is described as well.
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From page 170... ...
Unintentional injuries are those caused by motor vehicles and other forms of transportation, drowning, poisoning, burns, or falls. Unintentional injuries are sometimes referred to as "accidents." Intentional injuries (also called "violent injuries")
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From page 171... ...
Fatality rates for unintentional injuries vary considerably among countries and age groups. In the United States, peak injury rates are seen in young adult males, largely as a result of motor vehicle crashes; in developing countries, this peak is not always seen because of the relative unavailability of motor vehicles in younger age groups.
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From page 172... ...
Rates of intentional injuries vary among racial groups. In a study of mortality among South African adolescents during a two-year period, assault was found to be the most common cause of death in blacks and coloreds; road traffic deaths were most common for whites (Fisher et al., 1992~.
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From page 173... ...
The section that follows reviews what is known about these injuries in Sub-Saharan African females. Motor Vehicle Injuries Although there are fewer automobiles and miles of roads in developing countries, motor vehicle fatalities are nonetheless the leading cause of injury deaths in most countries, even though motor vehicle fatality rates may vary greatly among countries, and within urban and rural areas in the same country.
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From page 174... ...
The profile of motor vehicle injuries in Sub-Saharan Africa differs from those in developed countries in the ways they involve various groups of road-users. There are very few reports that specifically document the roaduser group of an injured person, but in a study from Ile-Ife, Nigeria, in 2,667 cases of road traffic accidents (RTA)
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From page 175... ...
Other Unintentional Injuries: Burns, Drowning, Falls, and Unintentional Poisonings Examination of outpatient or hospital admission records in any urban or rural health clinic reveals a wide range of injuries and a great variety of external causal events. During a three-month period in Alexandria, Egypt, among 10,000 patients seen in trauma units throughout the city, almost 27 percent of the patients were seen for the treatment of injuries that occurred during street fights; the number of male patients in this category was more than twice that of females.
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From page 176... ...
Fatal drownings are often underreported to health authorities, and nonfatal events are rarely reported because they may not require medical treatment. Based on a four-year retrospective study in Cape Town, South Africa, the highest rates of drowning were in white children and adult black males.
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From page 177... ...
Rates of nonfatal intentional injuries, however, prove to be greater for females than for males when violent injuries caused by rape and battering are combined with the other violent injuries that are customarily reported to law enforcement authorities. Along with gender, race is one risk factor closely associated with increased violence.
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From page 178... ...
Unwanted pregnancy may be also a cause for suicide among unwed women in some Islamic countries (Heise, 1993~. Nonfatal Violent Injuries in Females Although there is a clear link between domestic violence and subsequent homicide and suicide, injuries from rape and domestic violence are not usually fatal.
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From page 179... ...
Implications of Intentional Injury Directed Specifically Toward Females As we have seen throughout this chapter, most unintentional injuries, homicide, and suicide in Sub-Saharan Africa, as elsewhere in the world, occur more frequently among males than among females. There are several violent injuries that occur almost exclusively in females domestic assault, rape, and sexual assault.
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From page 180... ...
Instead, injury research has focused on occupational and transport injuries injuries that primarily affect males. Studies should, therefore, be conducted to identify risk factors for domestic and other injuries in Sub-Saharan females, including burns, falls, nonfatal domestic injuries, intentional and unintentional poisonings, and suicides.
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From page 181... ...
injuries are reported as unintentional injuriesfalls, burns, bruises, and poisonings is unknown and should be determined. To achieve understanding of the causes, risk factors, and strategies required to prevent violence, there is a need for a collaborative approach among a variety of disciplines, including anthropology, law, criminal justice, sociology, psychiatry, rehabilitation, epidemioloDy, and public health.
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From page 182... ...
1991. Unintentional injuries in developing countries: the epidemiology of a neglected problem.
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