Occupational injury in rural Bangladesh: data gathering using household survey

Int J Occup Environ Health. 2011 Jul-Sep;17(3):214-22. doi: 10.1179/107735211799041968.

Abstract

Occupational injuries are estimated to cause over 300,000 deaths per year worldwide. Many low- and middle-income countries often lack effective injury surveillance systems. We attempted to utilize household surveys to collect occupational injury data to develop more accurate injury incidence data. We undertook a pilot study of this approach in the rural area of Mirsarai, Bangladesh. Surveys were administered to 2,017 males and 120 females. Sixty-five percent were self-employed and over 80% worked in work places with less than six employees; over 60% worked seven days per week. Just over 50% of subjects reported at least one injury at work in the prior year. Incidence of lost-time injuries was 31%. The median number of work days lost was 7. The injury rates were higher than ILO estimates for Bangladesh, perhaps because of our study's focus on a rural population. We recommend expanding to larger and a more representative sample of the Bangladesh working community.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Absenteeism
  • Accidents, Occupational / statistics & numerical data*
  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Bangladesh / epidemiology
  • Educational Status
  • Female
  • Health Surveys / methods
  • Health Surveys / statistics & numerical data
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Occupations / statistics & numerical data*
  • Pilot Projects
  • Rural Population / statistics & numerical data*
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Trauma Severity Indices
  • Wounds and Injuries / epidemiology*
  • Wounds and Injuries / etiology
  • Young Adult