Traffic accidents mortality trends in youth and adolescent age groups In Fars province of Iran (2009 to 2018)

BackgroundTraffic accidents are the main cause of deaths in developing countries. Traffic accidents mortality were the third leading cause of death in Iran in the past years and now dropped to fourth place. This study aimed to present the traffic accidents mortality trends in youth and adolescent age groups in Fars province during a period of a decade. Methods The study is a cross-sectional one which make use of traffic accidents data gathered by death registration and classification system of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences from 2009 to 2018. Ages were divided in to 2 groups for data distribution and comparison. They were 5 to 17 and 18 to 29. The population for calculating the rates is the population enumerated by national census of Iran. To determine the rank of traffic accidents deaths by age groups among all causes of deaths, age-specific mortality rates (ASMR) for top 10 causes of death were calculated.ResultsIn 2009 and 2018 there were just over 19089 and 18829 deaths in Fars province respectively and the traffic accidents mortality rates decreased significantly from 42.3 to 29.6 per 100.000. Also 10.5% (2009) and 6.6% (2018) of all deaths were attributed to Traffic accidents.A ten-year study of death rates caused by traffic accidents in age groups, 5 to17 and 18 to 29 years has shown a decrease. This rates in adolescents and youth has dropped from 28.4 and 58.2 per 100,000 in 2009 to 12 and 37 per 100,000 in 2018 respectively. But still among the top 10 causes of death, traffic death rates in the age groups of 5 to17 and 18 to 29 years were ranked first.ConclusionThe findings of this study showed in recent years we have experienced a decrease in traffic accident deaths and this has shown the effectiveness of interventions to reduce traffic accidents. Also, because of 85% of deaths are due to non-communicable diseases which are diseases specific to the middle age and old age, that s why most of the deaths in adolescent and youth are due to injuries, and for this reason traffic accident mortality ranks first among the top 10 causes of death. This means adolescent and youth are still at risk. Therefore effective primary prevention should bedone for these age groups and Preventative measures should be further differentiated for each age group in accordance with their differing risk profiles.

کلیدواژه ها:

Traffic Accidents ، Mortality ، Age Group ، ASMR