Injuries presented at a primary care setting in Oman

Objective: This study aims to measure the rate, types, and causes of injuries presented at a primary care setting in the Muscat governorate. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out where all patients who attended the Al Moabelah Health Center from the period of 1^st January 2010 to the 31^st December 2010 were identified from the electronic medical records. Patients identified with any type of injury were then selected for further data collection with their age and gender recorded. Details such as the type, cause and nature of the injury at the clinic were gathered from the clinical notes. Results: A total number of 86,554 visits were recorded for the year 2010. The rate of injury visits was 24 per 1000 visits. In this study, the rate of injury visits was found to be four times more common in males (44.4 per 1000) than in females (11.5 per 1000), p≤0.001. While children aged under 12 years accounted for 41.4%, and elderly patients aged over 60 years accounted for 3.5% of the total visits emanating from injuries. The results show that home was the most common place where the majority of injuries occurred (42%), followed by playgrounds (10.2%). The most common causes of injury visits were falls, followed by cutting/piercing by sharp objects and sports injuries, which accounted for 40%, 13.4%, and 12%, respectively. Conclusion: Injuries in a primary care setting with close proximity to emergency departments of secondary and tertiary hospitals may only account to less than 3% of the total visits.