Pattern of road traffic injuries among individuals attending a rural health training center in Tamil Nadu

Background: Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are a leading public health problem. Approximately 1.3 million people die each year as a result of road traffic crashes as of June 2021. RTIs cause considerable economic losses to individuals, their families, and to nations as a whole. 93% of the world's fatalities on the roads occur in low-and middle-income countries. This study aimed to assess the pattern of RTIs among individuals attending a rural health training center in Tamil Nadu.Methods: The present study was a record based cross sectional study comprising of 113 patients who attended an outpatient department in rural health training center in Tamil Nadu from January 2021 to June 2021.We collected socio-demographic data (age and sex) and pattern of injuries from the database. We entered data in excel sheet and analyzed using SPSS version 21.0.Results: Mean (±SD) age of the patients was 34.2(±18.46) years. Most common pattern of injury was abrasion 98 (86.7%), followed by contusion 28 (24.8%) and laceration 14 (12.4%) respectively. Most RTIs required dressing 106 (93.8%) while 13 (11.5%) needed suturing.Conclusions: The present study showed that RTIs were more common in the younger male population. Abrasion was the most common type of injury reported.

Needs for International Benchmarking of Road Safety Management Based on Mobility Exposure Measures and Risk Patterns

Each year, 1.35 million people worldwide die due to Road Traffic Injuries (RTI), highlighting the need for further research. The risk of RTI is usually estimated as the number of casualties divided by the level of exposure in a population. Identifying the most appropriate exposure measures is one of the most important current challenges in this field. This paper presents an analysis of exposure measures used in empirical studies on road accidents. The results show a large variability in the exposure measures used, ranging from more general measures (such as population figures or vehicle fleet) to more specific measures related to mobility (such as number of trips, distances or travel time). A comparison of the risk patterns found shows that there is a partial consensus on the profiles with the highest risk of road traffic injuries. In conclusion, there is a need for the international standardization of criteria and data to be recorded, at least injury severity and measures of exposure to mobility, as the travel time disaggregated by socio-demographic variables and mode of transport. Such data would provide higher-quality results on risk profiles and facilitate the implementation of more effective, knowledge-based road safety policies.

Do deaths from road traffic injuries follow a classical trimodal pattern in North West Ethiopia? A hospital-based prospective cohort study

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to identify timing distribution and predictors of deaths following road traffic injuries among all age groups at Gondar Comprehensive specialised hospital.DesignA single-centre prospective cohort study.SettingThe study hospital is a tertiary hospital in North West Ethiopia.ParticipantsWe enrolled 454 participants who sustained road traffic injuries in to the current study. All age groups and injury severity were included except those who arrived dead, had no attendant and when the injury time was unknown.Primary and secondary outcome measuresThe primary outcome was time to death measured in hours from injury time up to the 30th day of the injuries. Secondary outcomes were prehospital first aid, length of hospital stay and hospital arrival time. The article has been registered, with a unique identification number of research registry 6556.ResultsA total of 454 victims were followed for 275 534 person hours. There were 80 deaths with an overall incidence of 2.90 deaths per 10 000 person hours of observation (95% CI 2.77 to 3.03). The significant predictors of time to death were being a driver (AHR=2.26; 95% CI 1.09 to 4.65, AR=14.8), accident at interurban roads ((AHR (Adjusted HAzard Ratio=1.98; 95% CI 1.02 to 3.82, AR (Attributable Risk)=21%)), time from injury to hospital arrival (AHR=0.41; 95% CI 0.16 to 0.63; AR=3%), systolic blood pressure on admission of <90 mm Hg (AHR=3.66; 95% CI 2.14 to 6.26; AR=57%), Glasgow Coma Scale of <8 (AHR=7.39; 95% CI 3.0819 to 17.74464; AR=75.7%), head injury with polytrauma (AHR=2.32 (1.12774 4.79; AR=37%) and interaction of distance from hospital with prehospital care.ConclusionThough the maturation of trauma centres in many developed countries has changed the temporal pattern of deaths following any trauma, our study demonstrated that trauma deaths follow the traditional trimodal pattern. That implies that potentially preventable causes of death continued in low-resource countries.

Out-of-pocket payments and catastrophic expenditures due to traffic injuries in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

Objective To estimate the out-of-pocket expenditures linked to Road Traffic Injuries in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, as well as the prevalence of catastrophic expenditures among those out-of-pocket payments, and to identify the socio-economic determinants of catastrophic expenditures due to Road Traffic Injuries. Methods We surveyed every admission at the only trauma unit of Ouagadougou between January and July 2015 at the time of their admission, 7 days and 30 days later. We estimate a total amount of out-of-pocket expenditures paid by each patient. We considered an expense as catastrophic when it represented 10% at least of the annual global consumption of the patient’s household. We used linear models to determine if socio-economic characteristics were associated to a greater or smaller ratio between out-of-pocket payment and global annual consumption. Findings We surveyed 1323 Road injury victims three times (admission, Days 7 and 30). They paid in average 46,547 FCFA (83.64 US dollars) for their care, which represent a catastrophic expenditure for 19% of them. Less than 5% of the sample was covered by a health insurance scheme. Household economic status is found to be the first determinant of catastrophic health expenditure occurrence, exhibiting a significant and negative on the ratio between road injury expenditures and global consumption. Conclusion Our findings highlight the importance of developing health insurance schemes to protect poor households from the economic burden of road traffic injuries and improve equity in front of health shocks.

Clinical Features, Management, and Outcomes of Chest Trauma at a Tertiary-Care Centre in India: A Retrospective Observational Study

Introduction. Chest is one of the main sites of injuries in trauma being a part of the torso. Many important organs lie in rib cage. However, data on chest injuries are scarce. Methods. A retrospective study was carried out for chest trauma patients including polytrauma (n = 184) from hospital records for five years (2016–2020). Various parameters including demographic profile, mode of injury, management, and outcomes were studied. Results. Mean age of patients was 37 ± 16 years with a male to female ratio of 2.4 : 1. Road traffic injuries remained the most common cause of trauma followed by assaults. Most of the patients were managed conservatively (55.43%). Mortality was seen in only 1.63% patients. Conclusion. Young male patients are usually affected by trauma. Road traffic injuries are the commonest cause. However, most patients can be managed by conservative treatment and mortality is seen only in polytrauma patients in the present study.