Injury characteristics, severity and thirty-day mortality of non-sexual assault related injuries in Uganda

Abstract

Non-sexual assault is increasingly becoming a global public health concern in the context of human rights advocacy. The objective of this study was to determine the injury characteristics, severity and factors associated with thirty-day mortality of non-sexual assault attributable injuries at two tertiary hospitals in Uganda. Prospective observational cohort study of 140 consecutive patients with history of non-sexual assault (Ethical clearance No.UG-REC023/2021-17). We used the Kampala Trauma Score (KTS II) to assess injury severity, coded as mild (9-10), moderate (7-8) or severe (≤6). The main outcome was mortality after 30 days from time of arrival at the trauma units. We analyzed data using Stata V.17.0 (StataCorp, TX, USA) at 95% confidence interval, regarding p<0.05 as statistically significant. Mean age was 29.98 years +/-12.76 SD. Males were the majority 77.4% (n=108). Mortality occurred in 5.7% (n=8) of patients. The Kampala Trauma Score was moderate in 20.7% (n=29), and severe in 35.0% (n=49) of the cases respectively. Factors significantly associated with mortality at 30 days were: a severe Kampala Trauma Score (OR = 100.79, 95% CI 4.88, 2080.57; P=0.003), pelvic injuries (OR = 112.80, 95% CI 1.02, 12434.31; p=0.049] and being accompanied by a relative [OR=0.004, 95%CI (<0.01,0.48)]. Severe injuries due to non-sexual assault occur in 35% of cases in Uganda and predominantly affect males. These injuries are associated with higher mortality of 57 per 1000 affected individuals