Abstract
This study aimed to provide a detailed overview of the health care and productivity costs of non-fatal road traffic injuries by road user type. In a cohort study in the Netherlands, adult injury patients admitted to a hospital as a result of a traffic accident completed questionnaires 1 week and 1, 3, 6, 12 and 24 months after injury, including the iMTA Medical Consumption and Productivity Cost Questionnaire. In-hospital, post-hospital medical costs and productivity costs were calculated up to two years after traffic injury. In total, 1024 patients were included in this study. The mean health care costs per patient were € 8200. The mean productivity costs were € 5900. Being female, older age, with higher injury severity and having multiple comorbidities were associated with higher health care costs. Higher injury severity and being male were associated with higher productivity costs. Pedestrians aged ≥ 65 years had the highest mean health care costs (€ 18,800) and motorcyclists the highest mean productivity costs (€ 9000). Bicycle injuries occurred most often in our sample (n = 554, 54.1%) and accounted for the highest total health care and productivity costs. Considering the high proportion of total costs incurred by bicycle injuries, this is an important area for the prevention of traffic injuries.
Highlights
Road traffic accidents are a leading cause of death for people aged between 5 and 29 years and the 8th leading cause of death for people of all ages with 1.35 million deaths each year
Patients that were aged 18 years or older who were admitted to a ward or an Intensive Care unit (ICU) and survived hospital discharge were included in the Brabant Injury Outcome Surveillance (BIOS) study
Our study showed that female sex, increasing age and injury severity and having multiple comorbidities is associated with higher health care costs for traffic-related injuries
Summary
Road traffic accidents are a leading cause of death for people aged between 5 and 29 years and the 8th leading cause of death for people of all ages with 1.35 million deaths each year. Road traffic accidents cause up to 50 million non-fatal injuries each year [1]. A systematic review on road traffic fatalities by road user group estimated that 63% of all deaths in high-income countries were among motorized four wheelers, compared to 34% in low-income countries. The distribution of road user accidents varies widely across countries by road user type, age and sex [2]. Another study showed that the incidence and severity of injuries vary according to the type of road user [3]. Pedestrians and motorcyclists suffered the most severe injuries and had a greater use of health care in the first three months compared to other road users
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