Are traffic injuries disproportionally more common among tourists in Greece? Struggling with incomplete data

Abstract

Data concerning injury hazards among tourists are difficult to obtain because estimates of person–time denominators are rarely available. Existing sources are limited to enumeration of injured or killed persons by nationality and type of injury and the analysis can only rely on proportional indicators. Since 1995, the Regional Hospital in the tourist island of Kerkyra (Corfu) has been covering all types of accidents including road traffic injuries, in the context of the Emergency Department Injury Surveillance System (EDISS). The catchment area of this hospital practically coincides with the island population. About 15% of all accidents are traffic-related among either permanent residents or Greek tourists, but they represent 40% among tourists of foreign nationalities. This is suggestive, but far from conclusive evidence, that traffic injuries may be more common among foreign tourists. There are indications that accidents among foreign tourists overall are slightly more serious. Among Greek tourists, the ratio between peak and non-peak period is similar for non-traffic injuries (7.4) and traffic injuries (6.8), whereas among foreign tourists the corresponding ratio is 9.2 for non traffic injuries and 15.0 for traffic injuries. This pattern is difficult to explain in terms other than an excess risk of traffic injuries among foreign tourists.