Citation

Staton CA, Msilanga D, Kiwango G, Vissoci JR, de Andrade L, Lester R, Hocker M, Gerardo CJ, Mvungi M. Int. J. Inj. Control Safe. Promot. 2017; 24(1): 69-77.

Affiliation

Duke Division of Emergency Medicine , Duke University Medical Center , Durham , NC , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2017, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/17457300.2015.1061562

PMID

26239625

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the most common cause of death and disability globally disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries where increasing injury rates are compounded by limited quality care. The objective of this study is to describe quality of care for TBI patients who presented to Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, Moshi, Tanzania. We evaluated a prospective quality improvement TBI registry that enrolled consecutive patients with acute TBI. Descriptive statistics and qualitative comparative analysis was performed. Overall, 893 TBI patients were enrolled during the study period, with a mean age of 32.1 years and who were mostly (80%) male. 12.9% suffered severe TBI (GCS < 9). Most injuries were road traffic (66%) especially motorcyclists (49%) and 26.8% were alcohol related. One intubation occurred, and 22.9% of hypoxic patients received oxygen. Severe TBI mortality was 47%. TBI affects men 15-45 years old in traffic crashes with high mortality for severe TBI (47%) patients. Care addressing secondary injury, hypoxemia, and hypotension is limited.

Language: en