Major Mediums to Accidents of Patients Reporting for Plain Radiograph Examinations at the Second Largest Public Hospital X-Ray Facility in the Northern Region, Ghana

Author(s): Hayford Kwakye Asare

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to report the various mediums and demographic characteristics of accident patients who underwent plain radiograph examinations at the Tamale Regional Hospital (TRH) X-Ray Unit.

Material and methods: This is a retrospective record analysis of radiology request forms (RRFs) of patients who attended the TRH X-Ray facility due to histories of accidents such as RTA, falls, birth injury, and etcetera. A total of 444 RRFs were analysed, covering a one year period (October 2017 to October 2018). Data was processed with the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21.0.

Results: Analysis of the 444 forms and outcome are as follows. Accident due to motorcycle accounted for 71.3% of patients’ attendance. Falls, other motor vehicles, sports, foreign body ingestion, assault/robbery, gunshot/stabbing, birth injury, suicide, and snake bite occurred at 12.8%, 5.0%, 2.5%, 3.0%, 0.7%, 0.5%, 1.6%, 0.2%, and 0.2% respectively. Other mediums contributed 2.3%. In terms of gender males constituted 65.0% and females 35.0%. Patients between 18 and 45 years had the most accident encounters.

Conclusion: Motorcycle is the leading mode of accident in the Northern Region, influencing the foremost accident-related reason for plain X-Ray services. Preventive education must particularly target males and those in the most youthful age brackets.