In postconflict settings, a substantial number of injuries and related disabilities are caused by land mines and explosive remnants of war. This article reviews the literature on the prevalence of these injuries and subsequent disabilities in Cambodia and Lao PDR. Three major electronic databases were systematically for publications on the prevalence of these injuries. Six studies met the inclusion criteria. Five of these were in Cambodia and 1 in Lao PDR. None of these studies could estimate national prevalence rates of these injuries; only 2 considered the broader impact of related disabilities. The different methodological approaches and limitations of the studies prevented statistical synthesis. The studies reviewed suggested accurate estimates of the prevalence of war injuries and consequent disabilities are missing. There is a need for a comprehensive epidemiological research to quantify the burden that results from such injuries.
SarafDSNongkynrihBPandavCS. A systematic review of school-based interventions to prevent risk factors associated with noncommunicable diseases. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2012;24:733-752.
2.
LinnanMGiersingMCoxR. Child Mortality and Injury in Asia: An Overview (Innocenti Working Paper 2007-04, Special Series on Child Injury No. 1). Florence, Italy: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre; 2007.
3.
KhooSMorrisT. Physical activity and obesity research in the Asia-Pacific: a review. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2012;24:435-449.
LyonsRA. Measuring the burden of injury. Inj Prev. 2008;14:3-4.
6.
International Campaign to Ban Landmines. Landmine Monitor Report 2011. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada: Mine Action Canada; 2011.
7.
BoltonM. Foreign Aid and Landmine Clearnace: Governance, Politics and Secuirty in Afganistan, Bosnia and Sudan. New York, NY: I. B. Tauris; 2010.
8.
World Health Organization. Guidance for Surveillance of Injuries due to Landmines and Unexploded Ordnance. Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2000.
9.
HoyDBrooksPWoolfA. Assessing risk of bias in prevalence studies: modification of an existing tool and evidence of interrater agreement. J Clin Epidemiol. 2012;65:934-939.
10.
HigginsJPTGreenS, eds. Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions Version 5.1.0. The Cochrane Collaboration, 2011. http://www.cochrane-handbook.org. Accessed August 24, 2011.
JacksonH. Bilateral blindness due to trauma in Cambodia. Eye. 1996;10:517-520.
13.
HusumHResellKVorrenG. Chronic pain in land mine accident survivors in Cambodia and Kurdistan. Soc Sci Med. 2002;55:1813-1816.
14.
AnderssonNDasousaCPParedesS. Social costs of landmines in four countries—Afghanistan, Bosnia, Cambodia and Mozambique. BMJ. 1995;311:718-721.
15.
BendinelliC. Effects of land mines and unexploded ordnance on the pediatric population and comparison with adults in rural Cambodia. World J Surg. 2009;33:1070-1074.
16.
MorikawaMTaylorSPersonsM. Deaths and injuries due to unexploded ordnance (UXO) in northern Lao PDR (Laos). Injury. 1998;29:301-304.
17.
StoverEKellerASCobeyJSopheapS. The medical and social consequences of land mines in Cambodia. JAMA. 1994;272:331-336.
18.
BonitaRBeagleholeRKjellströmT. Basic Epidemiology. 2nd ed.Geneva, Switzerland: World Health Organization; 2006.
19.
ChampionHJRSaccoWJCopesWS. A revision of the trauma score. J Trauma. 1989;29:623-629.
20.
BilukhaOOLaurengeHDaneeLSubediKPBecknellK. Injuries and deaths due to victim-activated improvised explosive devices, landmines and other explosive remnants of war in Nepal. Inj Prev. 2011;17:326-331.
21.
BilukhaOO. Injuries and deaths from landmines and unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan, 2002-2006. JAMA. 2007;298:516-517.
22.
HanevikKKvâleG. Landmine injuries in Eritrea. BMJ. 2000;321:1189.
23.
Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining. Mine Action: Lessons and Challenges. Geneva, Switzerland: Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining; 2005.
24.
MoyesR. Tampering: Deliberate Handling and Use of Live Ordnance in Cambodia. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Commissioned by HIB, MAG and NPA, funded by AustAid, ECHO and NPA2004.
25.
MoyesRVannachackL. A Study of Scrap Metal Collection in the Lao PDR. Geneva, Switzerland: Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining; 2005.
26.
National Regulatory Authority. National Survey of UXO Victims and Accidents, Phase 1. Vientiane, Lao PDR: National Regulatory Authority; 2009.
27.
BilukhaOOTsitsaevZIbragimovRAndersonMBrennanMMurtazaevaE. Epidemiology of injuries and deaths from landmines and unexploded ordnance in Chechnya, 1994 through 2005. JAMA. 2006;296:516-518.
28.
ChalonerEJMannionS. Antipersonnel mines: the global epidemic. Ann R Coll Surg Engl. 1996;78:1-4.
29.
BottomleyR. Balancing risk: village de-mining in Cambodia. Third World Q. 2003;24:823-837.
30.
DurhamJAliM. Mine risk education in the Lao PDR: time for a public health approach to risk reduction?Int J Health Promot Educ. 2008;46:27-32.
31.
WalshNEWalshWS. Rehabilitation of landmine victims: the ultimate challenge. Bull World Health Organ. 2003;81:665-670.
32.
WagstaffALindelowM. Are health shocks different?Evidence from a multi-shock survey in Laos2010. http://econ.worldbank.org. Accessed March 11, 2011.
33.
BilukhaOOBrennanMWoodruffBA. Death and injury from landmines and unexploded ordnance in Afghanistan. JAMA. 2003;290:650-653.
34.
GunaratnamHRGunaratnamSSomasundaramD. The psychosocial effects of landmines in Jaffna. Med Confl Surviv. 2003;19:223-234.
35.
DurhamJ. Gender issues: an example from Lao PDRJ ERW Mine Action. 2008;12(21):32-36.
36.
MurrayCJKingGLopezADTomijimaNKrugEG. Armed conflict as a public health problem. BMJ. 2002;324:346-349.
37.
FrielSLoringBAungkasuvapalaN. Pacific policy approaches to address the social and environmental determinants of health inequity in Asia-Pacific. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2012;24:896-914.
