Objective To find out the prevalence of “all” injuries, its nature, outcome and sources of treatment among rural population of Pondicherry.

Methods It was a triangulated study of quantitative (survey) and qualitative (Focus Group Discussion, FGD) methods. The trained second year medical undergraduate students paid house visits to all houses in five feasibly selected villages of our field practice area. The students interviewed the housewife and obtained information for all injuries for each family member in last one year and its sources of treatment. We could obtain information for 1613 (96.7%) households. Post-survey, FGDs were undertaken to explore the various traditional treatments for the common injuries. The data were entered and analysed using Epi_info 6.04d software package.

Results Overall, the prevalence of all injury among all age groups was 30.6% in last one year. Injuries were significantly more after 18 years of age and among men (p<0.001). About 99.2% injuries reported were accidental and majority (58.2%) went to government doctor for treatment. Most common causes of injuries were fall on the ground from height or due to slip (7.4%), road traffic accidents (5.6%), agriculture related injuries (5%) and bites by scorpion/insects/snakes/dogs (4.1%). FGDs explored some potentially harmful traditional remedial measures at village level.

Conclusions Considering the high prevalence of all injuries related to road traffic accidents, fall from height and agriculture work related injuries across all age groups, especially among men and some potentially harmful traditional treatments, an intervention in the form of targeted injury prevention program is required.