scholarly journals Study on risk factors of road traffic accident victims attending a tertiary care hospital at Tirupati

Author(s):  
Shakeer Kahn P. ◽  
Bayapa Reddy N. ◽  
Ashok Kumar Reddy K. ◽  
Ravi Prabhu G.

Background: Road traffic accidents stand as one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity across the globe. Increase in the number of motor vehicles, poor enforcement of traffic safety regulations, inadequacy of health infrastructure, and poor transport facilities makes the situation still worse. The objective of the study is to know the role of victims and various risk factors related to RTA. To determine the association of risk factors with type of injury and to know the pre-existing medical disorders in RTA victims.Methods: A hospital based, cross sectional study with victims of road traffic accidents admitted in S.V.R.R. Government General Hospital, Tirupati, as study subjects was done during June 2013 to May 2014 for one year where 820 victims of road traffic accidents were interviewed after taking prior consent using a predesigned questionnaire.Results: Most of the victims were drivers (48.5%) followed by passengers (31.7%) and pedestrian (19.8%). No two wheeler driver was wearing helmet. 74% of the four wheeler occupants were not using seat belts. Among drivers and pedestrians, 29.2% were under the influence of alcohol and 12.7% were listening to music. 55.8% of the passengers felt that their vehicle was going with over speed. 17.1% & 11.0% of the participants had history of hypertension and diabetes.Conclusions: There is a need to develop integrated surveillance system to identify the road traffic injury burden and the causal/risk factors. Enforcement of stringent road traffic laws to bring down the burden of road traffic accidents.

Author(s):  
Tanuja R. Brahmankar ◽  
Sachin K. Sharma

Background: Medico-legal case (MLC) can be defined as a case of injury or ailment, etc., in which investigations by the law-enforcing agencies are essential to fix the responsibility regarding the causation of the said injury or ailment. Medico-legal cases are an integral part of medical practice that is frequently encountered by medical officers working in casualty. Hence the present study is carried out to find out the frequency and pattern of medico-legal cases reported at a tertiary care hospital and to highlight the vulnerable gender, age, residence and the cause. Methods: It is a record based cross sectional study in which all the MLC cases registered in MLC record book during a period of 6 months (January 13– June 13) were included. Cases found non medico-legal were excluded. Variables considered were gender, age, residence and cause. Findings were expressed in numbers and percentages. Results: Total cases were 2350, of which 1866 (79.4%) were males and 484 (20.6%) were females. Maximum cases were from the age group of 21-30 years i.e., 828 (35.2%). 1440 (61.27%) were residents of urban area. Most of the medico-legal cases registered were due to assault (27.2%) followed by medical examination of prisoners(25.9%), road traffic accidents (19.7%), fall (6.9%), snake bite (6.6%), poisoning (4.3%), domestic injuries (4.3%), unknown bite (2.2%), unknown found at railway station (1.6%), brought dead (0.6%), burn (0.2%) & others (0.5%). Conclusions: Majority of the victims were males, young adults and urban inhabitants. Most common indication for medico-legal cases was assault followed by medical check-up of prisoners and road traffic accidents. 


Author(s):  
Rajesh Neeluri ◽  
Venkata Suresh Anga

Background: As per global status report on road safety 2015, 1.25 million road traffic deaths occurred every year. Most common cause of death among those aged 15-29 years was road traffic accidents. The objectives of the study were to study the socio-demographic profile of the victims of road traffic accidents, to identify the risk factors responsible for road traffic accidents and to identify the various presenting injuries of road traffic accident victims.Methods: It was a Hospital based cross sectional study. Victims of road traffic accidents attending casualty during July 2011 – June 2012 were studied. A pretested semi structured questionnaire was administered. A total of 280 road traffic accident victims were interviewed during the study period. Data was entered in Microsoft excel sheet and analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20. Results were expressed as proportions for different study variables.Results: Out of the 280 victims, majority 206 (73.57%) of study participants were males. The highest numbers of victims (34.20%) were between 21-30 years of age group. 40.71% were using two wheelers. Most of the accidents took place in the evening (6 pm to 12 am) i.e. 39.10%. Most common site of presenting injury was lower limb (40.71%). In this study 22.5% were under influence of alcohol while driving.Conclusions: Road traffic accidents were more in young age groups and in males. Road safety education should be promoted.


Author(s):  
B. S. Puzari ◽  
R. K. Das ◽  
Indira Pegu

Background: Ocular injuries in road traffic accidents (RTA) constitute a major but preventable cause of visual morbidity worldwide and so it is of public health importance. Aim of the study was to assess the visual outcome in patients attending tertiary care hospital with ocular injuries following RTA and compare various associated risk factors.Methods: A prospective study was done with 60 cases of ocular injuries following road traffic accidents in Assam Medical College and Hospital to find out the visual outcome and compare various risk factors .Detailed history and clinical evaluation was done with follow up at 1st and 3rd week.Results: Maximum cases were seen in the age group of 30-40 years, more in males (76.66%); with 78.33% in two wheelers. Out of the 60 cases, 38.33% occurred at night, 21.66% was under the influence of alcohol. 15.27% of patients presented with diminished vision, out of which 15% cases reported with severe ocular morbidity like vitreous haemorrhage, lens dislocation, sclera-corneal tear etc.Conclusions: Younger age group was mostly affected with male preponderance, alcohol and two wheelers being quite important risk factors. Early treatment of ocular injuries and use of protective wear result in better visual outcomes.


Author(s):  
Shakeer Kahn P. ◽  
Bayapa Reddy N. ◽  
Chandrasekhar C. ◽  
R. Altaf Hussain ◽  
K. Reddy Jawahar Basha

Background: Rapid motorization bought a boon along with the curse of road traffic accidents toll. Injuries and deaths due to road traffic accidents (RTA) are one of the major public health problems across the globe especially in developing countries due to lack of comprehensive legislative measures. It will have immeasurable impact on the families affected by RTAs.Methods: A hospital based, cross sectional study with victims of road traffic accidents admitted in S.V.R.R. Government General Hospital, Tirupathi, as study subjects was done during June 2013 to May 2014 for one year where 820 victims of road traffic accidents were interviewed after taking prior consent using a predesigned questionnaire.Results: External injury was seen in almost all cases (97.9%) and 61.5% suffered grievous injury. Laceration, fractures and abrasion are the most common types of injuries found. Regarding anatomical sites, head injury is the commonest (68.8%). Majority of the victims suffered grievous injury during 6AM to 12 PM (66.2%). The proportion of grievous injury was most commonly found in victims who were hit by Unknown vehicle (84.6%).Conclusions: Road side medical assistance by their timely action can prevent the toll of RTA fatalities and disabilities. Studies on injuries help in developing improved personal protective gear and safety measures inside the vehicles through novel engineering technology.


Author(s):  
Sachin Chourasia ◽  
K. V. Radhakrishna ◽  
Ravi Rautji ◽  
Shivakumar D. K.

Background: Road Traffic Accident (RTA) is any vehicular accident occurring on the roadway i.e. originating on, terminating on, or involving a vehicle partially on the roadway. Road traffic accidents are a human tragedy which has an immeasurable impact on the families affected. The WHO estimates that over 1.2 million people pass away every year on the world’s roads, and between 20 and 50 million fall victims to non-fatal injuries.  The incidence of RTA remains poorly measured in India.Methods: The present study is conducted at casualty department of a tertiary care hospital in South Western India among victims of road traffic accident. This cross sectional study was conducted to elucidate the role of various factors involved in road traffic accidents and to study demographic profile and injury pattern among RTA victims. All the reported RTA cases from 1st January 2016 to 31st December 2018 were included in the study.Results: A total of 875 cases of RTA were studied. There were 83.77%(n=733) male and 16.23%(n=142) female accident victims. Most of the patients were aged between 21 and 30 years. Monsoons witnessed 46.63%(n=408) cases. Most cases occurred between 6 and 12pm (54.4%, n=476). Commonest injury was a simple injury (72.91%, n=638), dangerous injuries (27.09% percent, n=237) and dead was (7.43%, n=65). The highest number of accidents took place in the month of June (19.09%, n=167) and on Sundays (22.17%). Among the motorized vehicles, two-wheeler drivers were more (76.91%, n=673) involved in accidents. In this study 17.60% (n=154) were under influence of alcohol while driving.Conclusions: This study shows there are multiple factors associated with road traffic accidents. Most of the factors responsible for RTA and its fatal consequences are preventable. India, as a signatory to the Brasilia declaration, intends to reduce road accidents and traffic fatalities by 50% by 2022. A comprehensive multipronged approach can mitigate most of them.


Author(s):  
Liji Menon ◽  
Soman Mani ◽  
Anna Mathew

Background: Ocular injuries following road traffic accidents (RTA) is one of the common causes of ophthalmological morbidity and unilateral blindness. The aim of this study was to document the epidemiological pattern of ocular injures caused by RTA in a cross-sectional population brought to a tertiary care centre in rural southern India.Methods: After receiving institutional ethics committee approval, all patients over the age of 10 years, who came to the emergency department (ED) of this rural tertiary care centre with alleged history of RTA, during the period, July-December 2015 were serially enrolled to participate in the study after obtaining written informed consent. The sample size for 95% confidence level and precision of 5% was calculated to be 191.Results: Out of the 832 cases of RTA presenting to the ED, 191 (23%) had ocular injuries. There were 186 (97.38%) closed globe injuries and 5 (2.6%) open globe injuries. Eight (4.1%) patients with ocular injuries had no perception of light in the affected eye after the accident. The commonest injury was periorbital edema and ecchymosis (68.6%) followed closely by eyebrow laceration (63.9%) and lid laceration (48.2 %). The commonest anterior and posterior segment injuries were traumatic optic neuritis (6.3%) and vitreous or retinal haemorrhage 4 (2.09%) respectively.Conclusions: In this study, the prevalence of ocular involvement in RTA was is 23%. Most of the injuries were closed globe injuries and periorbital edema and ecchymosis were the commonest type of injury occurring followed by eyebrow and lid laceration. 


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