Burden of Disease Caused by Road Traffic Accidents in the City of Mashhad

Abstract

Background: Mashhad is the second-largest Iranian megacity with a population of roughly 3 million and receiving around 25 million tourists a year, wherein road traffic accidents (RTAs) have become the leading cause of death and injuries. Objectives: The main purpose of this study was to calculate the burden of disease caused by RTAs in the city of Mashhad. Methods: In this applied research using a descriptive cross-sectional method, data associated with RTAs in the city of Mashhad in March 2016 - March 2017 were collected based on a complete enumeration of RTA-induced fatalities and disabilities from the Organization for Cemetery Management (Ferdows Organization) affiliated to Mashhad Municipality and the database of the Ministry of Health of Iran (MOH). Following verification, the years of life lost (YLL), the number of years lost due to disability (YLD), and the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) were measured through the method proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO). Results: The total number of RTA deaths was 677 cases (men = 494 (73%) and women = 183 (27%)) and the number of DALYs was 29155 years (men = 21219.3 (72.8%) and women = 7935.1 (27.2%)). Of the total DALYs, 96% of them were associated with YLL, and 4% were related to YLD. Conclusions: Mortality data are recorded with relatively high accuracy in Iran. Given low YLD in DALYs in comparison with the findings of similar studies in developed countries, there are possible defects in data quality, in particular in terms of non-fatal accidents and injuries. These findings can be thus exploited for optimal allocation of resources in Razavi Khorasan Province and across Iran.