Girma, Biruk (Assistance professor)Ketema, Indeshaw2018-06-192023-11-052018-06-192023-11-052015-07http://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/1890Background: Trauma, especially head trauma, is an expanding major public health problem and the leading cause of death of the young and productive part of the world’s population. Globally, head injury is a substantial cause of mortality and morbidity across all age groups, with a disproportionately greater burden borne by low- and middle-income countries (1). Objective: To assess the pattern of head injury among patients presented to adult ED of JUTH, Jimma, South West Ethiopia, from January 01, 2014 to December 30, 2014. Methods: Institutional based retrospective, cross sectional study was conducted at JUTH, Jimma town, South West Ethiopia, from January 01, 2014 to December 30, 2014. All head injury patients who fulfills inclusion criteria and visited JUTH during the period from January 01, 2014 to December 30, 2014 were selected for the study. Data was collected using pretested structured check lists through reviewing of patient chart retrospectively. The collected data was encoded to Microsoft Excel and was analyzed using SPSS Version 20.0. The obtained result was displayed by using frequency tables, graphs and charts. Results: Out of 135 patients, 121 (89.6%) were males and the remaining 14 (10.4%) were females. The mean age was 30.34 years (SD=14.01). Interpersonal violence 73 (54.1%) and road traffic accidents 42 (31.1%) were the most common causes of head injury. More than half of the patients sustained mild head injury which accounts 87 (64.4%) and 20 (14.8%) sustained severe head injury. The initial GCS had a significant correlation with the outcome and of all patients 98 (73%) were managed conservatively. Conclusion: Prevention of road traffic accidents and improvement of conservative care were identified as major methods to reduce the burden of head injury in a set-up similar to Jimma. Key words- head injury, pattern, Jimma University teaching hospital, Southwest Ethiopia.enHead injury; Pattern, Jimma University teaching hospital; Southwest Ethiopia.Thesis