Factors influencing injury or death due to traumatic events in Afghanistan’s crisis-affected populations: a cross-sectional nationwide study

Objective Afghanistan, with one of the world’s largest refugee populations, suffers an enormous burden of injury resulting in loss of life. This study aims to identify the epidemiology of injuries or death in the crisis-affected populations across Afghanistan and to investigate factors associated wi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Jin-Won Noh, Lena J Lee, Young Dae Kwon, Kyoung-Beom Kim, Jiho Cha
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2022-12-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/12/e063329.full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850040514612559872
author Jin-Won Noh
Lena J Lee
Young Dae Kwon
Kyoung-Beom Kim
Jiho Cha
author_facet Jin-Won Noh
Lena J Lee
Young Dae Kwon
Kyoung-Beom Kim
Jiho Cha
author_sort Jin-Won Noh
collection DOAJ
description Objective Afghanistan, with one of the world’s largest refugee populations, suffers an enormous burden of injury resulting in loss of life. This study aims to identify the epidemiology of injuries or death in the crisis-affected populations across Afghanistan and to investigate factors associated with injuries or deaths due to traumatic events.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting This study analysed Whole Afghanistan Assessment 2019 data. This survey geographically covered all 34 accessible provinces in Afghanistan.Participants 31 343 displaced and shock-affected households in Afghanistan.Primary and secondary outcome measures Injury or death of household members due to traumatic events.Results 2561 (8.2%) reported at least one household member had been injured or deceased because of a significant conflict or natural disaster in the past year. Households experienced significant events such as active conflict or violence (prevalence ratio, PR=5.575, p<0.001), earthquake (PR=3.118, p=0.004), flood (PR=1.534, p=0.008) and avalanche or heavy snowfall (PR=3.450, p<0.001) were significantly associated with injury or death. The likelihood of injury or death was significantly higher for long-distance households than for households living within a 5 km radius of the nearest healthcare facilities (6–10 km: PR=1.402, p=0.030; >10 km: PR=1.560, p=0.020).Conclusion The study provides an epidemiological profile of injuries or death in crisis-affected populations across Afghanistan. Results also suggest that certain factors place the crisis-affected populations in Afghanistan at high risk for injuries or death, which can inform the development of surveillance and prevention programmes, the monitoring of patterns over time and the formulation of healthcare policies.
format Article
id doaj-art-bb6c7adba5344d2ca1c92b06c126dba2
institution DOAJ
issn 2044-6055
language English
publishDate 2022-12-01
publisher BMJ Publishing Group
record_format Article
series BMJ Open
spelling doaj-art-bb6c7adba5344d2ca1c92b06c126dba22025-08-20T02:56:05ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552022-12-01121210.1136/bmjopen-2022-063329Factors influencing injury or death due to traumatic events in Afghanistan’s crisis-affected populations: a cross-sectional nationwide studyJin-Won Noh0Lena J Lee1Young Dae Kwon2Kyoung-Beom Kim3Jiho Cha4Division of Health Administration, College of Software and Digital Healthcare Convergence, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon-do, Korea (the Republic of)Translational Biobehavioral and Health Disparities Branch, National Institutes of Health Clinical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, USADepartment of Humanities and Social Medicine, College of Medicine and Catholic Institute for Healthcare Management, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea (the Republic of)Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Yonsei University, Wonju, Gangwon-do, Korea (the Republic of)Moonsoul Graduate School of Future Strategy, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon, Korea (the Republic of)Objective Afghanistan, with one of the world’s largest refugee populations, suffers an enormous burden of injury resulting in loss of life. This study aims to identify the epidemiology of injuries or death in the crisis-affected populations across Afghanistan and to investigate factors associated with injuries or deaths due to traumatic events.Design Cross-sectional study.Setting This study analysed Whole Afghanistan Assessment 2019 data. This survey geographically covered all 34 accessible provinces in Afghanistan.Participants 31 343 displaced and shock-affected households in Afghanistan.Primary and secondary outcome measures Injury or death of household members due to traumatic events.Results 2561 (8.2%) reported at least one household member had been injured or deceased because of a significant conflict or natural disaster in the past year. Households experienced significant events such as active conflict or violence (prevalence ratio, PR=5.575, p<0.001), earthquake (PR=3.118, p=0.004), flood (PR=1.534, p=0.008) and avalanche or heavy snowfall (PR=3.450, p<0.001) were significantly associated with injury or death. The likelihood of injury or death was significantly higher for long-distance households than for households living within a 5 km radius of the nearest healthcare facilities (6–10 km: PR=1.402, p=0.030; >10 km: PR=1.560, p=0.020).Conclusion The study provides an epidemiological profile of injuries or death in crisis-affected populations across Afghanistan. Results also suggest that certain factors place the crisis-affected populations in Afghanistan at high risk for injuries or death, which can inform the development of surveillance and prevention programmes, the monitoring of patterns over time and the formulation of healthcare policies.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/12/e063329.full
spellingShingle Jin-Won Noh
Lena J Lee
Young Dae Kwon
Kyoung-Beom Kim
Jiho Cha
Factors influencing injury or death due to traumatic events in Afghanistan’s crisis-affected populations: a cross-sectional nationwide study
BMJ Open
title Factors influencing injury or death due to traumatic events in Afghanistan’s crisis-affected populations: a cross-sectional nationwide study
title_full Factors influencing injury or death due to traumatic events in Afghanistan’s crisis-affected populations: a cross-sectional nationwide study
title_fullStr Factors influencing injury or death due to traumatic events in Afghanistan’s crisis-affected populations: a cross-sectional nationwide study
title_full_unstemmed Factors influencing injury or death due to traumatic events in Afghanistan’s crisis-affected populations: a cross-sectional nationwide study
title_short Factors influencing injury or death due to traumatic events in Afghanistan’s crisis-affected populations: a cross-sectional nationwide study
title_sort factors influencing injury or death due to traumatic events in afghanistan s crisis affected populations a cross sectional nationwide study
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/12/e063329.full
work_keys_str_mv AT jinwonnoh factorsinfluencinginjuryordeathduetotraumaticeventsinafghanistanscrisisaffectedpopulationsacrosssectionalnationwidestudy
AT lenajlee factorsinfluencinginjuryordeathduetotraumaticeventsinafghanistanscrisisaffectedpopulationsacrosssectionalnationwidestudy
AT youngdaekwon factorsinfluencinginjuryordeathduetotraumaticeventsinafghanistanscrisisaffectedpopulationsacrosssectionalnationwidestudy
AT kyoungbeomkim factorsinfluencinginjuryordeathduetotraumaticeventsinafghanistanscrisisaffectedpopulationsacrosssectionalnationwidestudy
AT jihocha factorsinfluencinginjuryordeathduetotraumaticeventsinafghanistanscrisisaffectedpopulationsacrosssectionalnationwidestudy