Background Trauma is a leading cause of hospital admissions in Sri Lanka and of which, a major component are fractures sustained due to falls. However, only limited information is available on this important public health problem. Aim To describe the demography and characteristics of fractures sustained following falls, in Sri Lanka. Methods A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted on patients who sustained fractures following falls. The sample included all patients who attended the Orthopaedic post-surgical clinics of a tertiary care hospital, during 1 month in 2011. Data was collected using a structured, pre-tested, interviewer administered questionnaire, and analysed using SPSS 17.0 statistical software. Results In this study sample (n=266), 49.6% were of 20 to 65 years of age and 14.6% were over 65 years. The rest (35.8%) were children and adolescents. The sample had 54.5% males. Of the patients below 40 years, 69.7% were males, while 62.9% were females in the group above 40 years. Single fractures were sustained by 70.3% and the rest had multiple fractures. Upper limb fractures were sustained by 54.4%, while 39% sustained lower limb fractures. Among children and adolescents, 83.2% had upper limb fractures, while in adults and elderly, 51.5% had lower limb fractures. Significance Younger males and older females are at a higher risk of sustaining fractures following falls. Single fractures were more common than multiple fractures. Lower limbs were more affected in adults while children and adolescents had more upper limb fractures. A120Inj Prev 2012;18(Suppl 1):A1-A246

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Introduction: In recent years, Sri Lanka has experienced a surge in the incidence of dengue. Among other reasons, internal migration of people into dengue-high risk areas is thought to be an important factor for the rising case load. Objectives: To identify the factors associated with internal migration of low-income adults among dengue patients in Western Province, Sri Lanka Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study conducted in the Western Province in November 2017. The study population consisted of 473 confirmed adult dengue patients. Internal migrant was defined as an adult who has moved from his original place of residence and been living in the district migrated to for less than five years. A pre-tested interviewer-administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: There were 53 (11.2%) internal migrants belonging to low-income group among the dengue patients. Of them, 30 (56.6%) stated that the reason for migration was employment while 9 (17%) indicated education. Being of age 30 years, coupled with low educational level showed a statistically significant association with internal migration of adults having dengue fever. Although there were more males than females, and more displaced than non-displaced among the internal migrants, these were not statistically significant. Conclusions: Younger age and low educational level were associated with internal migration mainly due to employment.

BackgroundMain objective of this study was to find the incidence and characteristics of injuries within the past 1 year period, suffered by children under 5 years of age in this selected community health division in Sri Lanka.MethodsThis was a community based descriptive, cross sectional study covering a randomly selected area of the Homagama Community Health division in Colombo District. The population was children under 5 years who were permanent residents of that area, and a single child under the age of 5 years was randomly selected from each eligible family, following community household visits. A structured, pre-tested, interviewer administered questionnaire with trained interviewers and pictorial support material, was used for data collection, over 3 months period in 2013.ResultsOf 2136 respondents, 552 (25.84%) had a history of injury during the past 1 year. Of the 1077 (50.42%) males, 26.92% have had injuries, while 24.74% of females too had injuries. Children aged 3 to 4 years were mainly vulnerable for injuries, while 35.3% of children have reported only one significant (as perceived by parents/guardians) injury during the past year. Common injury types were abrasions (45.82%), lacerations (17.06%) and contusions (9.7%). Of those reporting injuries, 4.35% had suffered fractures. Most of the causes for these injuries were falls (75.5%), followed by falling objects, animal attacks and burns. 67.5% of injuries had occurred at home while 17.4% had occurred in the home garden.ConclusionsFrom the findings of this study, it could be concluded that the incidence of injuries amongst under 5 year old children in the community in this area was 25.84% and also that the incidence was similar between both sexes. The commonest injuries were abrasions and lacerations while falls, falling objects, animal attacks and burns were the main causes of these injuries. Home and home garden were the common environments in which these injuries had occurred.