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Context:It is predicted that injuries will be among the top 20 leading causes of death worldwide by 2030. In Egypt, injuries burden is significant as it was the fifth leading cause of death in 2004. Also, it's considered as a hidden epidemic due to under-reporting.Aims:To identify the patterns of hospitalized injury cases at Trauma Unit in Assiut University Hospitals and to provide an indication about who are at increased risk of hospitalization or death due to injury.Settings and Design:A descriptive retrospective study.Materials and Methods:Registered data of all hospitalized injuries from January 2002 to December 2009 at Trauma Unit of Assiut University Hospitals in Upper Egypt were included.Statistical Analysis:Advanced statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) program version 16 (IBM Corporation - http://www.spss.com) was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics and tests of significance were used. P value was considered statistically significant when it was less than 0.05 and highly significant when it was less than 0.001.Results:Admitted cases of attended injuries were (31.8%). Most admissions were below the age of 30 years (58.4%). Male to female ratio was 3:1. Falls were the most common injuries (43.6%), followed by transport accidents (31.1%). More than half of deaths (56.4%) were due to transport accidents. Transport accidents, falls, interpersonal violence and gunshot injuries had an early ranking throughout the study period.Conclusion:Road traffic injuries, falls and violence are areas of priority in preventive strategies. Paying special attention for young adults is recommended.

BackgroundInjury is a growing public health problem worldwide. Deaths due to injuries account for 10% of the world’s mortality. More than 90% of the world’s injury deaths occur in low and middle income countries. In Egypt, injury is a hidden epidemic and its related deaths are misclassified due to lack of accurate national data. Furthermore, as a research problem it has also been largely ignored in developing countries.ObjectivesTo determine the pattern and trend of injury from January 2002 to December 2009 among attendants at trauma unit in Assiut university hospital in Upper Egypt.Patients and MethodsA descriptive retrospective study was conducted at the trauma unit in Assiut university hospital in Upper Egypt. All registered injuries during January 2002 to December 2009 were included in the study.ResultsDuring January 2002 to December 2009, 213835 injured cases were admitted to the trauma unit. The number of attendants increased every year from 9.3% from the total cases in all study period in 2002 up to 15.3% in 2009 with a statistically significant difference (P = 0.000). Young adults aged 20 - 29 years were the most common group affected by injuries (22.2%). Male to female ratio was 3:1. Falls represent one half of injuries (49.6%) from all attended cases, followed by exposure to inanimate mechanical forces (19.5%) and transport accidents (18.3%). Falls were ranked as the leading cause of injuries, while transport accidents were the second cause in 2007 - 2009.ConclusionsTrauma in Upper Egypt is an under-recognized problem, which requires prioritized attention. Increasing the awareness of community, making policies and establishment of a trauma system are important to decrease the burden of injuries.