Epidemiological Study of Road Traffic Accident Cases: A Study from Southwest of Iran

Backgrounds: Road Traffic Accident (RTA) is one of the leading causes of premature mortality and disability, and is known as a major health problem all over the world, especially in low- and moderate-income countries. According to World Health Organization, nearly 3,400 people die on the world s roads every single day, and children, pedestrians, cyclists and the elderly are the most vulnerable road users. This study was aimed to investigate the prevalence of RTAs in Dashtestan county in 2016.Methods and materials: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2016-2017. The census method was applied to extract required data including demographic characteristics, location of accident, and type of injury from patients with road traffic injuries who registered at Hospital of Dashtestan, southeast of Iran between March 2016 and February 2017.Data analysis was performed using SPSS, version 16 with descriptive statistics.Results: A total of 1920 RTAs were reported in Dashtestan city in 2016. The maximum number of RTAs was observed in the month March (n=220, 11.4%), and in winter session (n=515, 26.8%). About 79.7% of the injured patients were Males, while females accounted for 19.16%. The age group between 15-44 years was the most vulnerable of the total cases. Moreover, the highest frequency of accidents was reported in street (88.2%).Conclusion: The findings of the present paper show that the prevalence of RTAs is relatively high in Dashtestan city. The majority of the accidents occurred in urban areas, and young age groups are major victims of RTAs. Thus, culture-building practices and appropriate training interventions should be established to reduce risky behaviors and reduce the prevalence of RTAs.

کلیدواژه ها:

Epidemiology ، Road traffic accident ، Southwest ، Iran