Public health
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Road traffic accidents are a major health hazard in Saudi Arabia, particularly during Ramadan. The ensuing trauma has increased in direct proportion to the increase in the number of road vehicles. An audit of RTAs over a one-year period revealed that, out of 361 victims, 16% were under 10 years and 47% between 11 and 30 years. ⋯ There was a male to female ratio of 4:1 reflecting the driving laws in Saudi Arabia. Burst tyres due to intense heat were identified as a common cause (39%) of accidents. The introduction of seat belt legislation and stricter law enforcement should lead to a rapid reduction in morbidity and mortality on the roads in Saudi Arabia.
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A continuous all embracing registration of acute, in-patient and out-patient visits at hospitals and primary health care centres, was conducted in Skaraborg County in western Sweden. A special focus was directed at accident cases which account for 20% of the total number of acute visits. The accidents were divided up by environment: home, work, traffic and other. ⋯ Safety devices were not used in 10% of cases where they should have been used according to legislation. A comparison of our registration system for road traffic accidents with the official statistics of Sweden reveals a substantial under-reporting of road traffic accidents in the latter. Consequently, a need exists for the surveillance of injuries by the public health services as a basis of injury control.
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Comparative Study
A comparative study between the use of analgesia/anaesthesia and of episiotomy in women delivered under consultant supervision or general practitioner care.
A retrospective cohort study based on obstetric records was performed, to compare the use of analgesia/anaesthesia during labour by consultants and general practitioners. The episiotomy rates for the two groups were also compared. 111 general practitioner patients were identified and these were matched with 111 consultant patients. No difference was found between the two groups for duration of stages I or II. ⋯ This was due to general practitioners preferring to use local anaesthetic for suturing after an epidural had worn off, whereas hospital doctors preferred to top-up the epidural to provide anaesthesia for suturing. This study supports the view that women delivered under the care of their own general practitioner in a hospital obstetric unit fare no worse than similar women delivered under consultant supervision. The former group have the advantage of continuity of care from their general practitioner.