Occupational injuries in Tehran

As the first step in evaluation of the magnitude of the occupational injuries (OIs) in our community, we focused on hospital records of more than 8400 hospitalized trauma patients in six large university hospitals during 13 months of data gathering process. Fourteen percent of 8426 trauma patients had OIs (1180 cases) and 95% of them were male. Adults 19-39 years comprised 63% of the patients. Eleven percent of the patients were 18 years old or younger. Construction workers (26%), simple workers (26%), and industrial workers (17%) comprised nearly 70% of the OIs. Falls (39%) and striking by blunt objects (29%) were the most common mechanisms of injury. More than 60% of the patients did not have any type of insurance. A younger patient has a higher the probability of being uninsured. Head (49%) wrist and hand (46%) and knee and leg (36%) injuries were the most common regions injured. Additional community-based studies are needed to determine the risk of OIs among different occupational categories, as well as to identify the most vulnerable groups.