the prevalence of lower extremity injuries in mashhad: a five-year study

Background: injury is one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. lower extremity injuries put a heavy burden on communities. the aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of lower extremity injuries in mashhad, iran.methods: the data from 57430 patients with lower extremity injuries from all traumatology hospitals in mashhad were analyzed in this retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study to determine the prevalence of lower extremity injuries in mashhad, iran, between march 2011 and march 2015.results: the prevalence of lower extremity injury in the general population of mashhad was 0.34%. the mean age of the casualties was 33.7±19.8 years, and 77.9% were male. knee and lower leg injuries had the highest frequency (61%). the mean hospitalization period was 7.7±12.6 days. the highest mortality rate (mr) (2%) and discharge against medical advice (dama) (11%) were observed in hip and thigh injuries. dama (8.8% vs. 6.7%, p<0.001) and mr (1.7% vs. 1.5%, p=0.005) was higher in females. however, males had a longer hospitalization period (8±13) compared to females (6.8±10.1 days) (p<0.001). the prevalence rate was declining during the study period.conclusion: the downward trend of lower extremity injuries is promising; however, the higher mortality rate in females needs more attention. these findings can be used for better management of traumatic patients.