DISEASE PATTERN IN EARTHQUAKE AFFECTED AREAS OF PAKISTAN: DATA FROM KAGHAN VALLEY

Authors

  • Nasir Shah
  • Minhaj Anwar Abro
  • Mairaj Anwar Abro
  • Asma Khan
  • Fahad Anwar
  • Hina Akhtar

Abstract

Background: In 2005 northern parts of Pakistan were hit by an earthquake of magnitude 7.6 on rectorscale. Fatima Memorial Hospital established a Primary Health care centre in village of Jared in Kaghanvalley. The objective of the study was to find the pattern of different diseases presetting to health centre.Methods: All cases between August 2006 and December 2008 were included from the daily outpatientrecord of the centre. Data was analyses using SPSS-17. Frequency of different diseases and groups ofdiseases in different age groups, sexes and time of the year were the main outcome variables. Results:Total number of patients was 22,122 with a mean age of 26±16 years. The number of female patientswas 12,634 (57.1%) and males were 9,488 (42.9%). The single most common condition in the studyperiod was viral upper respiratory tract infection (5,042, 23%), followed by Scabies (3,757, 17%), AcidPeptic Disease (3,157, 14.3%), Urinary Tract infection (1,197, 5.4%) and Hypertension (n=933, 4.2%).There was a high number of young patients with urinary tract infection and hypertension. Conclusion:Communicable diseases like viral respiratory tract infection and scabies were the most commoninfections. Acid peptic disease was the most common non-communicable medical problem. Except eyeconditions, all diseases were more common in summer and rainy season.Keywords: Disease pattern, 2005 earthquake, earthquake affected areas, Pakistan

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Published

2010-09-01