Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37160653›Full record

ArticleWorld journal of surgery2023

Tracking the Trauma Epidemic in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Aida Tefera, Elizabeth Eleanor Lutge, Nirvasha Moodley, Xolani Wiseman Xaba, Timothy Craig Hardcastle, Petra Brysiewicz, Damian Luiz Clarke

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in World journal of surgery, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. SA journal of radiology · 2026
    Article
  2. Article
  3. Article
  4. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Aida TeferaHealth Services Planning, Delivery, Monitoring and Evaluation Component, KZN Department of Health, Durban, South Africa.
Elizabeth Eleanor LutgeHealth Services Planning, Delivery, Monitoring and Evaluation Component, KZN Department of Health, Durban, South Africa. elizabethlutge@gmail.com.ORCID 0000-0003-0272-0100
Nirvasha MoodleyHealth Services Planning, Delivery, Monitoring and Evaluation Component, KZN Department of Health, Durban, South Africa.
Xolani Wiseman XabaHealth Services Planning, Delivery, Monitoring and Evaluation Component, KZN Department of Health, Durban, South Africa.
Timothy Craig HardcastleDepartment of Surgery, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-3967-0234
Petra BrysiewiczSchool of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0001-6258-1603
Damian Luiz ClarkeDepartment of Surgery, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.ORCID 0000-0002-8467-1455

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundTrauma remains an important cause of morbidity and mortality in South Africa, but attempts to track the epidemic are often based on mortality data, or derived from individual health facilities. This project is based on the routine collection of trauma data from all public health facilities in the province of KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), between 2012 and 2022.

methodsHospital level data on trauma over the past ten years was drawn from the district health information system (DHIS). Data relating to assaults, gunshots and motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) were recorded in the emergency rooms, whilst data on admissions are recorded in the wards and intensive care units.

resultsThere were 1,263,847 emergency room visits for assaults, gunshots and MVCs over the ten-year period and trauma admissions ranged between four and five percent of the total number of hospital admissions annually. There was a dramatic decrease in trauma presentations and admissions over 2020/2021 as a result of the COVID lockdowns. Over the entire period, intentional injury was roughly twice as frequent as non-intentional injury. Intentional trauma had an almost equal ratio of blunt assault to penetrating assault. Gunshot-related assault increased dramatically over the 2021/2022 collecting period.

conclusionsThe burden of trauma in KZN remains high. The unique feature of this burden is the excessively high rate of intentional trauma in the form of both blunt and penetrating mechanisms. Developing injury-prevention strategies to reduce the burden of interpersonal violence is more difficult than for unintentional trauma.

Indexed as

COVID-19Wounds, GunshotCommunicable Disease ControlHospitalizationHospitalsHumansSouth Africa

Identifiers

PMID37160653
PMCPMC10310579

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.