Situational Analysis of Dog Bites in a Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Background: Dog bites are serious and often underestimated public health problem. It is important to understand the circumstances and characteristics of dog bites to develop effective prevention strategies.

Aims: To describe the factors and circumstances related to dog bites.

Methods: The study was conducted at B.J. Govt. Medical College and SGH, Pune. All the new patients of dog bite attending the ARV OPD during the period between 1^st October and 31^st November 2012 were included in the study. A pretested and structured oral questionnaire was used to collect data regarding victim, dog, place and bite. All the cases of dog bites were classified into three groups i.e. bites from pet, community or stray dogs. Analysis was done by the Chi Square test.

Results: Out of total 154 new cases of dog bites, a majority i.e. 102(66%) were caused by stray dogs, 27(18%) by pet dogs and 25 (16%) by community dogs. In case of pet-dog bites, 41% patients were children or adolescents. A significantly greater proportion of victims of pet-dog bites were playing with the dog when bite occurred (X²=45.84; p<0.05). In a majority of the bites of pet and community dogs, the animal attacked victim from the front direction, (X²=30.18, p<0.05). A majority of the community and stray-dog bites occurred outdoors while pet-dog bites occurred indoors, (X²=35.92; p<0.05). In case of both the pet and community-dog bites, 44% were reported to be provoked while only 9% of stray-dog bites were provoked, (X²=21.36, p<0.05). Only few of the community and stray-dog bites were thought to be preventable. A significantly more number of pet-dog bites (52%) were observed to be on face and upper limb, (X²=17.09; p<0.05). A large number of victims with community-dog bites (52%) did not wash their wound with soap and water, (X²=15.77, p<0.05).

Conclusions: A majority of the bites by stray dogs were unprovoked bites where the dog bit the victim