PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Nurettin Kahramansoy AU - Necla Gürbüz AU - Feyzi Kurt AU - Hayri Erkol AU - Güledal Boztaş TI - Gender differences in trauma mechanisms, and outcomes in a rural hospital which is not designed as trauma centre AID - 10.1136/emermed-2011-200657 DP - 2013 Mar 01 TA - Emergency Medicine Journal PG - e16--e16 VI - 30 IP - 3 4099 - http://emj.bmj.com/content/30/3/e16.short 4100 - http://emj.bmj.com/content/30/3/e16.full SO - Emerg Med J2013 Mar 01; 30 AB - Objectives This study aimed to investigate how trauma characteristics and outcomes differ between genders in a rural hospital. Methods Records of trauma patients admitted to a state emergency department (ED) in eastern Turkey, between January 2006 and December 2007 were reviewed and data were analysed based on gender. Results In total, 5379 (87.0%) men and 806 (13.0%) women, totalling 6185 patients, were assessed. Mean age was 26.5 (1 month – 80 years) years for men and 24.7 (2 month – 81 years) years for women. Men comprised 90.2%, 81.3% and 77.3% of the patients injured by assault, motor vehicle incidents and falls, respectively. Women comprised a significantly larger share of suicide attempts (70.8%) than men. Of the men injured, 90.6% were discharged after treatment in the ED. The per cent of hospitalised women (5.8%) was increased compared with the per cent of hospitalised men (p=0.011). There was a higher frequency of transfer among women (8.6%) when compared with men (p<0.001). Women had a mortality frequency of 1.2%, which was similar to the mortality per cent calculated for men. Conclusions Men were at an increased risk for trauma, especially assault. The percentage of women injured and admitted to the ED due to assault was low compared with statistics reported in the literature. However, assault is the most common cause of trauma among women. The high per cent of hospitalisation and transfer among women may indicate that women are exposed to more severe trauma, and therefore experience increased morbidity compared with men.