Περίληψη:
Objective(s). To study regionalized acute injury services on an island
with high seasonal fluctuation of the population at risk.
Design. An on-going prospective study
Setting. The District Hospital in the touristic island of Corfu.
Study participants, Of 9432 individuals with traumatic injuries who
contacted the hospital during 1996, 1204 were hospitalized. information
was recorded on several injury-related clinical and sociodemographic
variables. Possible residual disabilities, 6 months after the injury,
were also assessed.
Main outcome measures. Injury Severity Score (ISS), clinical outcome and
duration of hospitalization, odds of transfer to other institutions.
Results. Non-residents, whether Greek or foreign nationals are
hospitalized for shorter periods. Motor vehicle accident victims are
hospitalized on average for 15% longer. Injury victims admitted on a
Friday are hospitalized for a longer period. Finally, ISS is a powerful
positive predictor of duration of hospitalization. Male injury victims,
those injured during late night or early morning and patients injured in
July are more likely to be transferred to another institution. Age of
the patient and ISS are powerful and independent predictors of an
unfavourable outcome.
Conclusion. The extra demand created by injured tourists is reflected in
the seasonality of admissions for injuries. The district hospital of
Kerkyra cannot be considered as deficient in comparison to other
district hospitals. Nevertheless, the suboptimal function of the
hospital, with respect to injuries, is reflected in the high proportion
of injured patients transferred when the injury occurs outside the full
working schedule of the hospital. Patients with burns, bone fractures or
dislocations and head injuries or concussion are transferred with an
overall frequency of about 15% - too high to be compatible with a well
functioning secondary care institution.
Συγγραφείς:
Petridou, E
Gatsoulis, N
Dessypris, N
Skalkidis, Y and
Voros, D
Papadimitriou, Y
Trichopoulos, D
