%0 Journal Article
%T The long term effects of early analysis of a trauma registry
%A Sami Shaban
%A Mazen Ashour
%A Masoud Bashir
%A Yousef El-Ashaal
%A Frank Branicki
%A Fikri M Abu-Zidan
%J World Journal of Emergency Surgery
%D 2009
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1749-7922-4-42
%X Data in the early stages of this trauma registry were collected for 503 patients during a period of 6 months in 2003. Data was collected on a paper form and then entered into the trauma registry using a self-developed Access database. Descriptive analysis was performed.Most were males (87%), the mean age (SD) was 30.5 (14.9). UAE citizens formed 18.5%. Road traffic collisions caused an overwhelming 34.2% of injuries with 29.7% of those involving UAE citizens while work-related injuries were 26.2%. The early analysis of this registry had two major impacts. Firstly, the alarmingly high rate of UAE nationals in road traffic collisions standardized to the population led to major concerns and to the development of a specialized road traffic collision registry three years later. Second, the equally alarming high rate of work-related injuries led to collaboration with a Preventive Medicine team who helped with refining data elements of the trauma registry to include data important for research in trauma prevention.Analysis of a trauma registry as early as six months can lead to useful information which has long term effects on the progress of trauma research and prevention.Trauma is the cause of 10% of all deaths worldwide [1] and it is projected that road traffic deaths will increase by 83% between 2000 and 2020 in developing countries [2]. Trauma is a major health problem in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). About 18% of the annual mortality in UAE is due to trauma and most of these deaths are caused by road traffic collisions [3]. Trauma affects mainly the young productive population which has a profound health and economic impact. Prevention of trauma is not only the most effective method of reducing the toll of death but also the cheapest [4].The first step in planning for trauma prevention is to collect data through trauma registry surveillance systems [5]. Trauma registries are databases that document trauma cases according to specific inclusion criteria [6]. They are
%U http://www.wjes.org/content/4/1/42