International Research Journal of Medicine and Medical Sciences

20-39

Authors: Revocatus Twinomuhangi, Ron N. Buliung, Mable T. Nakitto and Ronald Lett

Injury is a major international public health concern internationally, contributing to population morbidity and mortality and related social and economic costs. While several national injury survey initiatives have been conducted in Uganda in the past, none have explicitly incorporated geographical aspects of injury. Injury surveillance should include location data, with a view to ultimately understanding and explaining the geography of injury risk and prevalence. This paper documents a GIS method developed for a national injury surveillance pilot study in Uganda, Africa. The study’s primary goal was to assess the feasibility of using GIS in injury surveillance in Uganda. A trauma registry form was designed and used to capture spatial and non-spatial (socio-economic status of injured persons, injury type/cause) factors of injury events. The trauma registry was piloted for 30 days at two referral hospitals (Mulago and Mubende) in Central Uganda. Spatial patterns of injury pilot data were studied by injury source, and socio-demographic characteristics. The study demonstrated the utility of GIS for injury surveillance and analysis in the Ugandan context. The addition of GIS-based surveillance and mapping capacity may become an important approach to treating the prevalence of different types of injury in Uganda, over the longer term. Keywords: Geographic information systems, injury surveillance, spatial analysis.

44-50

Authors: Ergie P. Inocian, Edsel P. Inocian and Elsie I. Ysatam

This study compared the dependency needs of the nursing home residents and community-dwelling elderly in the performance of Basic and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (ADL). It was also correlated to their age, educational attainment, cognitive status, and health-related conditions. It was conducted in one community and in four (4) Geriatric Homes in Cebu, Philippines. There were 120 respondents of the study, aged 65 years old and above. To measure their cognitive status, the standardized Mini Mental Status Examination by Folstein et al. (1975) was used. The dependency needs in performing ADLs were assessed using the Katz Index of Independence (1963) and Lawton Instrumental ADL Scale (1969). The elderly from the home for the age needed assistance in basic ADL and are dependent on the performing instrumental ADL, while the community-dwelling elderly were independent in both basic and instrumental ADL. Age, educational attainment, co-morbidities and cognitive status were found to have significant relationships in the performance of basic and instrumental ADL among the Filipino elderly. Moreover, there was a significant difference in the ADL performance between the nursing home residents and community-dwelling elderly. With functional decline as person ages, it is essential to support the health needs of the elderly. Keywords: Activities of daily living, cognitive status, community-dwelling elderly, dependency needs, Filipino elderly, functional status, health-related conditions, nursing home residents.