TIME TO RECOVERY AND ITS PREDICTORS AMONG ROAD TRAFFIC INJURED PATIENTS ADMITTED TO BUTAJIRA GENERAL HOSPITAL, GURAGE ZONE, SOUTHERN ETHIOPIA, RETROSPECTIVE FOLLOW UP STUDY, 2021

Abstract

Abstract Background: Road traffic crashes kill 1.2 million people a year or an average of 3242 people every day. Road traffic injured patient’s recovery rate is affected by many different factors. Those factors might affect the duration of time to recovery. Objective: to assess time to recovery and its predictors of road traffic injured patients who admitted at Butajira general hospital, Gurage zone, southern Ethiopia, 2021. Method: A retrospective follow-up study was conducted by reviewing records of road traffic injured (RTI) patients who were admitted to surgical ward from Jan 1, 2016 to Dec 30, 2020 at Butajira General Hospital (BGH) Butajira town, Southern Nation Nationality people Region (SNNPR), Ethiopia. A total of 420 study participants were selected using Systematic random sampling technique. Kaplan-Meier, log-rank test and Cox proportional hazard model was applied. Variables that have significant value in previous studies and at P < 0.25 in univariate analysis were taken to the multivariate Cox regression model. Model fitness was checked by cox-Snell residual and Hazard proportionality was checked by global test. Multi co-linearity was checked by VIF. Adjusted Hazard Ratio [AHR] with 95% Confidence Interval (CI) and P-value less than or equal to 5% was used to measure the association between dependent and independent variables. Result: From 420 RTI patients’ records, 385 gave full response and 310(81%) (95% CI 76.2%- 84.2%) were recovered. The median time to recovery was 8 days (interquartile range of 5–17 days). Having Treatment before admission [AHR=1.42 (1.10 - 1.83)], Hematocrit level >=30% at Admission [AHR= 3.22 (2.03 - 5.12)], mild and moderate GCS [AHR=4.43 (2.75 - 7.14)], non-organ injury [AHR=2.46 (1.59 - 3.79)], having single comorbidity [AHR=1.65(1.07-2.53)], absence of complication [AHR=2.14(1.13 - 4.06)], and not having History of loss of consciousness [AHR=1.43 (1.02 - 2.01)] were predictors of time to recovery of RTI patients. Conclusion: Median time to recovery of RTI patients was relatively good. Having Treatment before admission, Hematocrit level >=30%, mild and moderate GCS, no organ injury, single comorbidity, absence of complication and unchanged conscious status were positively associated with time to recovery of RTI, so that I would like to recommend to BGH to give attention to patients with identified factors. Keywords: Cox Proportional Hazard Model, Length of Hospital Stay, Survival, Time to Recovery, Butajira General Hospital