Falls From Residential Buildings In The Tabuk Area: Review Of 50 Patients

摘要

Objectives: To study the pattern of falls from residential buildings in Tabuk area ,and to know the details of the patients characteristics as for age, gender and reason of falls, aiming at reduction or prevention of such accidents.Design: This is a prospective hospital based epidemiological study, in which the first fifty consecutive patients presented to the surgical emergency department who fell from windows and balconies were studied.Results: The majority of cases were children (66%),males most commonly affected(82%).Most of the accidents occur in the evening (50%). 80% of patient fell from heights of less than 5 meters. Common injuries were fractures of the upper limb(24%),followed by lower limb fractures (16%), then head injuries in the third place(12%). Almost all patients were Saudis. Most of the patients were students below University level (48%).Conclusion: Falls from balconies and windows is a common problem in Tabuk area with some serious injuries. Most of the victims were school children. Safety measures to balconies and windows, and health education of parents and to children at schools may help reducing this preventable accidents. Introduction Domestic accidental falls from balconies and windows is a major cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide 1,2,3,especially among children. Marilyn et al., found that nearly 140 children below 15 years of age die each year because of falls fro balconies and windows in the USA2.Although it is agreed that unintentional falls is a preventable condition4, 6,its incidence remains high5,and it receives little attention in most countries compared to road traffic accidents. Studies on road traffic accidents started here in Saudi Arabia as early as 1988,by Bener et al7,and there are as many of them published to-date, compared to only two studies, with our limited search of the literature, regarding falls from heights 8,9.This motivated and encouraged us to carry out this study, especially when we noticed the increase in the number of such cases treated each week in our hospital. We hope that our study will through more light and draw more attention to this rising problem ,and to stimulate other centers to carry out similar studies aiming at its prevention. Patients and Methods This is a prospective hospital based epidemiological study conducted in King Khalid Hospital in Tabuk, where the first fifty cases of accidental falls from residential areas in Tabuk region treated in the emergency department during the middle 4 months of year 2004 were studied. Only those accidentally fell from balconies and windows, were included in this study. All cases of slippery on the floor or falls from other objects were execluded. Also, all suicidal falls were excluded. We visited some of the residential areas in the city and examined the widows and balconies, and observed the behavior of some children in these places. The collected data analyzed and categorized as shown in the results below. Results The total number of patients included in this study was 50.Males were the majority, 41( 82%),and females were 9 (18%).(table 1).