Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-cfpbc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-25T04:38:20.074Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Investigation of Health-Related Consequences of Landmine Explosions During the Past 4 Decades (1979-2016): A Retrospective Cross-Sectional Study, Kurdistan, Iran

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 August 2019

Soraya Fathollahi ,
Arezoo Yari ,
Farin Fatemi ,
Ali Ardalan ,
Farzam Bidarpoor  and
Nader Esmailnasab
Soraya Fathollahi
Affiliation:
Department of Disaster and Emergency Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Arezoo Yari*
Affiliation:
Department of Disaster and Emergency Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
Farin Fatemi*
Affiliation:
Research Center for Health Sciences and Technologies, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran
Ali Ardalan
Affiliation:
Department of Disaster and Emergency Health, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Farzam Bidarpoor
Affiliation:
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
Nader Esmailnasab
Affiliation:
Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran
*
Correspondence and reprint requests to Arezoo Yari, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran (e-mail: yariarezoorose@gmail.com)
Farin Fatemi, Research Center for Health Sciences and Technologies, Semnan University of Medical Sciences, Semnan, Iran (e-mail: f-fatemi@alumnus.tums.ac.ir).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objectives:

Landmines remain a potential public health concern in the western and southern border regions of Iran. The aim of this study was to assess the health-related consequences of landmine explosions in Kurdistan Province during the past 4 decades.

Methods:

This retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted in Kurdistan Province of Iran in 2016-2017. The data gathering process was questionnaire based. Survivors, or a member of the deceased’s family, were interviewed, and 410 questionnaires were completed. Data analysis was performed by using descriptive or analytical tests in SPSS software V.22.

Results:

Antipersonnel landmines caused death immediately after the explosion 32.1% of the time, and 67.9% survived with various disabilities, such as blindness, deafness, and limb amputation. Sixty-three percent of the injuries were related to limb amputation, which was the most prevalent injury among survivors. The adjusted regression test revealed a significant relationship between severity of injury and variables such as living in the villages, education, and occupation (P-value < 0.05).

Conclusions:

Recognizing the mined areas and intensifying clearance measures are crucial for Kurdistan Province. Providing landmine awareness programs is likely to yield useful results in reducing casualties. Also, landmine survivors should have access to physical and social rehabilitation programs.

Keywords

landminesexplosionhealth impactcasualties
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 14 , Issue 3 , June 2020 , pp. 322 - 328
Copyright
Copyright © 2019 Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc.

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Frost, A, Boyle, P, Autier, P, et al. The effect of explosive remnants of war on global public health: a systematic mixed-studies review using narrative synthesis. Lancet Public Health. 2017;2(6):e286–e296.10.1016/S2468-2667(17)30099-3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Southivong, B, Ichikawa, M, Nakahara, S, et al. A cross-sectional community study of post-traumatic stress disorder and social support in Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Bull World Health Organ. 2013;91(10):765–772.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Darwish, R, Farajalla, N, Masri, R. The 2006 war and its inter-temporal economic impact on agriculture in Lebanon. Disasters. 2009;33(4):629–644.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shabila, NP, Taha, HI, Al-Hadithi, TS. Landmine injuries at the Emergency Management Center in Erbil, Iraq. Confl Health. 2010;4(1):15.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Soroush, A, Flahati, F, Zargar, M, et al. Women pose innocent victims of landmines in postwar iran. Iran J Public Health. 2010;39(1):32–35.Google ScholarPubMed
Afshar, A, Afshar, N, Mirzatoloei, F. Injuries due to landmine blast referred to Shahid Motahhary Hospital, Iran. Med J Armed Forces India. 2007;63(2):157–159.10.1016/S0377-1237(07)80063-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jahunlu, HR, Husum, H, Wisborg, T. Mortality in land-mine accidents in Iran. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2002;17(2):107–109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Walsh, NE, Walsh, WS. Rehabilitation of landmine victims – the ultimate challenge. Bull World Health Organ. 2003;81(9):665–670.Google ScholarPubMed
Mehio Sibai, A, Sameer Shaar, N, el Yassir, S. Impairments, disabilities and needs assessment among non-fatal war injuries in south Lebanon, Grapes of Wrath, 1996. J Epidemiol Commun Health. 2000;54(1):35–39.10.1136/jech.54.1.35CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Duttine, A, Hottentot, E. Landmines and explosive remnants of war: a health threat not to be ignored. Bull World Health Organ. 2013;91(3):160–160A.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mohamadzadeh, H, Moballeghi, J, Afkhamzadeh, A, et al. Landmine victims in Iran Kurdistan; demographic features and accident characteristics. Pakistan J Med Sci. 2012;28:139–142.Google Scholar
Asadollahi, R, Saghafinia, M, Nafissi, N, et al. Anxiety, depression and health-related quality of life in those injured by landmines, Ilam, Islamic Republic of Iran. East Mediterr Health J. 2010;16(11):1108–1114.10.26719/2010.16.11.1108CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mousavi, B, Soroush, MR, Masoumi, M, et al. Epidemiological study of child casualties of landmines and unexploded ordnances: a national study from Iran. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(5):472–477.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibson, J, Barns, S, Cameron, M, et al. The value of statistical life and the economics of landmine clearance in developing countries. World Dev. 2007;35(3):512–531.10.1016/j.worlddev.2006.05.003CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edwards, MJ, Lustik, M, Eichelberger, MR, et al. Blast injury in children: an analysis from Afghanistan and Iraq, 2002-2010. J Trauma Acute Care Surg. 2012;73(5):1278–1283.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hedelin, H, Edvardsen, O, Murad, M, et al. Trauma care in poor countries – A collective concern in a village: care of landmine injuries in North Iraqi countryside. Lakartidningen. 2006;103(7):460–463.Google Scholar
Soroush, AR, Flahati, F, Zargar, M. Injuries associated with landmines and unexploded ordnances in Iran. Iran Red Crescent Med J. 2010;12:384–387.Google Scholar
Soroush, A, Falahati, F, Zargar, M, et al. Amputations due to landmine and unexploded ordinances in post-war Iran. Arch Iran Med. 2008;11(6):595–597.Google ScholarPubMed
Hagenlocher, M, Hölbling, D, Kienberger, S, et al. Spatial assessment of social vulnerability in the context of landmines and explosive remnants of war in Battambang province, Cambodia. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct. 2016;15:148–161.10.1016/j.ijdrr.2015.11.003CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fatemi, F, Ardalan, A, Aguirre, B, et al. Social vulnerability indicators in disasters: findings from a systematic review. Int J Disaster Risk Reduct. 2017;22:219–227.10.1016/j.ijdrr.2016.09.006Google Scholar
Ryken, KO, Hogue, M, Marsh, JL, et al. Long-term consequences of landmine injury: a survey of civilian survivors in Bosnia-Herzegovina 20 years after the war. Injury. 2017;48(12):2688–2692.10.1016/j.injury.2017.08.019CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kozarić-Kovačić, D, Grubišić-Ilić, M, Bakić-Tomić, L, et al. Children’s awareness of danger from firearms, land mines, and other explosive devices in Croatia, 1996. Croat Med J. 1997;38(4):355–364.Google Scholar
Andersson, N, Mitchell, S. Epidemiological geomatics in evaluation of mine risk education in Afghanistan: introducing population weighted raster maps. Int J Health Geogr. 2006;5:1.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Can, M, Yildirimcan, H, Ozkalipci, O, et al. Landmine associated injuries in children in Turkey. J Forensic Leg Med. 2009;16(8):464–468.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phung, TK, Viet, L, Husum, H. The legacy of war: an epidemiological study of cluster weapon and land mine accidents in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam. Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2012;43(4):1035–1041.Google Scholar
Heshmati, A, Khayyat, NT. Analysis of landmine fatalities and injuries in the Kurdistan region. J Interpers Violence. 2015;30(15):2591–2615.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Supplementary material: File

Fathollahi et al. supplementary material

Fathollahi et al. supplementary material 1

Download Fathollahi et al. supplementary material(File)
File 26.6 KB