Development and piloting of the Fiji Injury Surveillance in Hospitals System (TRIP Project-1)

Abstract

IntroductionWhilst more than 90% of injury related deaths are estimated to occur in low-and-middle-income countries (LMICs), the epidemiology of fatal and hospitalised injuries in Pacific Island Countries has received scant attention. This study describes the development and piloting of a population-based trauma registry in Fiji to address this gap in knowledge.MethodsThe Fiji Injury Surveillance in Hospitals (FISH) system was an active surveillance system designed to identify injuries resulting in death or a hospital admission in Viti Levu, Fiji. During the pilot conducted over five months in 2005, Accident and Emergency registers, admission folders and morgue registers from 8 of Viti Levu's 12 hospitals, and an additional 3 hospitals in other parts of the country were reviewed by hospital staff and medical students to identify cases and extract a minimum data set that included demographic factors; the mechanism, nature and context of injury; substance use; and discharge outcomes. The system was audited to identify and redress difficulties with data quality in a manner that also supported local capacity development and training in injury surveillance and data management.ResultsThis pilot study demonstrated the potential to collect high quality data on injuries that can pose a significant threat to life in Fiji using a mechanism that also increased the capability of health professionals to recognise the significance of injury as a public health issue.ConclusionThe injury surveillance system piloted provides the opportunity to inform national injury control strategies in Fiji and increase the capacity for injury prevention and more focused research addressing risk factors in the local context.

Population-based characteristics of fatal and hospital admissions for poisoning in Fiji: TRIP Project-11

“…The use of a quality-assured injury surveillance database12 that captured serious poisoning events resulting in hospital admission or death provided the opportunity to obtain population-based estimates in this setting and identify subgroups at increased risk of poisoning. When interpreting findings, however, it is important to acknowledge that access to healthcare could influence presentations, and the study was not designed to identify assessments by primary care providers or traditional healers.…”

“…This population-based registry, the development of which has been described previously,12 captured data on all deaths and hospital admissions for more than 12 h due to an acute injury or poisoning. Cases were identified from hospital accident and emergency registers, admission and post-mortem records.…”

Burden of road traffic injuries and related risk factors in low and middle-income Pacific Island countries and territories: a systematic review of the scientific literature (TRIP 5)

“…Reliable and sustainable injury data surveillance [52-55] including secondary data routinely collected from hospital and police records, comprises an important foundation for monitoring and evaluating road safety strategies in the Pacific context [19,39]. This would be strengthened by the standardisation of RTI case definitions, data collection processes, analysis and reporting from surveillance systems [56], while ensuring dissemination approaches link findings to interventions, policies, context-specific research and funding mechanisms.…”

Hospitalised and Fatal Head Injuries in Viti Levu, Fiji: Findings from an Island-Wide Trauma Registry (TRIP 4)

“…The FISH system was piloted and refinements were made prior to the 12-month surveillance period [4]. Cases were classified as a ‘head injury’ if the medical notes described injuries to the head including intracranial injuries, skull fractures, and loss of consciousness.…”