BackgroundInjuries are a leading cause of death and disability around the world. Injury incidence is often associated with socio-economic and physical environmental factors. The application of geospatial methods has been recognised as important to gain greater understanding of the complex nature of injury and the associated diverse range of geographically-diverse risk factors. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to provide an overview of geospatial methods applied in unintentional injury epidemiological studies.MethodsNine electronic databases were searched for papers published in 2000–2015, inclusive. Included were papers reporting unintentional injuries using geospatial methods for one or more categories of spatial epidemiological methods (mapping; clustering/cluster detection; and ecological analysis). Results describe the included injury cause categories, types of data and details relating to the applied geospatial methods.ResultsFrom over 6,000 articles, 67 studies met all inclusion criteria. The major categories of injury data reported with geospatial methods were road traffic (n = 36), falls (n = 11), burns (n = 9), drowning (n = 4), and others (n = 7). Grouped by categories, mapping was the most frequently used method, with 62 (93%) studies applying this approach independently or in conjunction with other geospatial methods. Clustering/cluster detection methods were less common, applied in 27 (40%) studies. Three studies (4%) applied spatial regression methods (one study using a conditional autoregressive model and two studies using geographically weighted regression) to examine the relationship between injury incidence (drowning, road deaths) with aggregated data in relation to explanatory factors (socio-economic and environmental).ConclusionThe number of studies using geospatial methods to investigate unintentional injuries has increased over recent years. While the majority of studies have focused on road traffic injuries, other injury cause categories, particularly falls and burns, have also demonstrated the application of these methods. Geospatial investigations of injury have largely been limited to mapping of data to visualise spatial structures. Use of more sophisticated approaches will help to understand a broader range of spatial risk factors, which remain under-explored when using traditional epidemiological approaches.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40621-016-0097-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The injury rate in SGC is lower than that reported at elite level. However, the high rate of lower back injuries (20%) highlights an area of concern in this cohort. High workloads or inadequate physical conditioning may contribute to such injuries. This study sets the foundation for understanding injury epidemiology in grade cricket and examines the links between injury and performance, these results may assist coaches and administrators to develop and implement cricket-specific injury prevention programmes.

A case of symptomatic muscle hernia of the leg in a provincial cricketer caused by a cricket ball injury is presented. It was diagnosed clinically and treated with a limited fasciotomy. However, delay in the diagnosis and treatment ended the professional career of the player. An awareness of the condition and a high index of suspicion are required to treat this condition in time.

Inadequate and inappropriate handling of health care waste may have serious public health consequences and a significant impact on the environment. The Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has notified the new Biomedical Waste Management rules (BMWM Rules, 2016) on March 28, 2016, under the Environment (protection) Act, 1986, to replace the earlier rules (1998) and the amendments thereof. These rules shall apply to all persons who generate, collect, receive, store, transport, treat, dispose, or handle biomedical waste in any form. Sufficient financial and trained human resources, proper monitoring and control of waste disposal are some challenges for the management of biomedical waste. Thus, appropriate management of health care waste is a crucial component of environmental health protection, and it should become an integral feature of health care services. If we want to protect our environment and health of the community, we must sensitize ourselves to this important issue not only in the interest of health managers but also in the interest of community.

BackgroundInjuries are a leading cause of death and disability around the world. Previous studies have shown that certain populations are consistently at greater risk of injury. Spatial epidemiological approach provides a way to better understand injury patterns and their associated risk factors at a population level. The aim of this research is to provide a systematic reivew of spatial epidemiological methods applied to injury research.MethodsA search was conducted in three major electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science and Science Direct), for papers published between 2000–2015 inclusive. Included were papers reporting unintentional injury outcomes, which used geospatial methods for spatial epidemiological analysis. Findings are reported using PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines.ResultsFrom over 10,000 articles, 88 articles met all inclusion criteria. The major categories of injury data that have been reported with geospatial methods were road traffic (52%), falls (11%), burns (12%), drowning (5%), workplace injuries (2%) and others (18%). Grouped by themes, mapping was the most frequently used method, with 74% of articles limited to this approach to investigate a spatial pattern of injuries. Cluster detection and ecological analysis methods were applied less commonly, being used in 26% and 3% of articles, respectively. The kernal density estimation for point data and local indicators of spatial autocorelation for areal data were the most frequently used cluster detection methods.ConclusionIn the last two decades, many geospatial methods have been developed and applied in injury research, primarily to investigate road traffic injuries. The depth of investigations has been largely limited to basic mapping. Use of more advanced geospatial methods will help to better understand injury aetiology. Researchers should be encouraged to adopt these advanced methods in their future studies.