Spatial Epidemiology of Injuries in Lilongwe, Malawi (2010)

Undergraduate: Cameron Taylor

Faculty Advisor: Michael Emch
Department: Geography

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Injury as a major cause of death and disability has been well documented in industrialized countries, however, in developing countries there has been considerably less research. Despite the weight of evidence, the importance of preventing and treating injuries in low income countries has yet to be embraced by the global public health community. This study utilizes a hospital trauma registry developed at Kamuzu Central Hospital in Lilongwe, Malawi. The research aim is to understand what the most common injury mechanism is along with utilizing GIS techniques to identify spatial patterns related to injury location. The results of the study show that the most prevalent injury was assaults in males (32.5%) and falls among females (26.5%). Using empirical Bayes smoothing, Area 4 was identified as a location with a higher amount of injuries compared to other locations in Lilongwe. This study, creates a starting point for further spatial analysis of hospital trauma registries in other resource poor countries with the ultimate goal of reducing injury risk.