Sentinel surveillance of injury in emergency departments in hospitals in Zhejiang province,2009-2010

Objective To understand the epidemiological characteristics of injury in Zhejiang and provide scientific evidence for the development of intervention strategies. Methods The sentinel surveillance data of injury in 28 hospitals in Zhejiang during 2009-2010 were analyzed. Results A total of 144 039 injury cases were reported during this period, the male to female ratio of the cases was 1.66 ∶ 1. The injury cases were mainly distributed in people aged 15-44 years (51.46%). Farmers/fishermen, migrant workers and workers were major populations affected, the cases in these populations accounted for 31.19%, 21.93% and 19.56% respectively. The injuries mainly occurred at hone (30.34%), on street/in urban area (28.17%) and in working place (26.45%). The injuries were mainly caused by falling down (26.49%), traffic accident (22.71%), blunt force (18.46%), punctured/incised wound (12.58%) and animal bite (9.95%). Most injuries occurred during leisure time (43.79%) and work time (32.68%). Most injuries were mild (49.85%) or moderate (46.04%). Over 90% of the cases belonged to unintentional injuries. More wounding by others occurred in males than in females, but more self wounding occurred in females. Conclusion This sentinel surveillance revealed the epidemiological characteristics of injury in emergency department in hospitals in Zhejiang during 2009-2010. Manual workers are the high risk population of injury, and the injury caused by falling down is more likely to occur in children, adolescents and old people. It is necessary to conduct targeted intervention to reduce the incidence of injury.