Abstract
The objective of the current study was to evaluate outcomes of a program to prevent traffic injuries among the different social strata under WHO Safe Community Program. A quasi-experimental design was used, with pre- and post-implementation registrations in the program implementation area (population 41,000) and in a neighbouring control municipality (population 26,000) in ?sterg?tland County, Sweden. The traffic injury rate in the not vocationally active households was twice than employed or self-employed households in the intervention area. In the employed and not vocationally active households, males showed higher injury rates than females in both areas. In the self-employed households females exhibited higher injury rates than males in the intervention area. Males from not vocationally active households displayed the highest post-intervention injury rate in both the intervention and control areas. After 6 years of Safe Community program activity, the injury rates for males in employed category, injury rates for females in self-employed category, and males/females in non- vocationally active category displayed a decreasing trend in the intervention area. However, in the control area injury rate decreased only for males of employed households. The study indicated that there was almost no change in injury rates in the control area. Reduction of traffic injuries in the intervention area between 1983 and 1989 was likely to be attributable to the success of safety promotion program. Therefore, the current study concludes that Safe Community program seems to be successful for reducing traffic injuries in different social strata.
Highlights
Traffic injuries is one of the most common preventable causes of death and disability worldwide with great burden on communities and health care systems worldwide [1,2]
Less we know about the traffic injury prevention programs especially in relation to socioeconomic status of the victims’ families
The Safe Community concept was developed in Sweden in conjunction with the World Health Organization (WHO), based on findings from local Swedish injury prevention programs in the 1970s and 1980s
Summary
Traffic injuries is one of the most common preventable causes of death and disability worldwide with great burden on communities and health care systems worldwide [1,2]. Studies of traffic injuries by severity suggest that the socioeconomic determinants of more severe injuries differ from those of less severe injuries [1]. Community based programs to prevent common nonfatal injuries have been effectively implemented as complements to various national safety programs [2,4]. The current study was developed following the World Health Organization (WHO) Safe Community program (more details at http://www.phs.ki.se/csp/). Using a quasi-experimental design to compare intervention and control communities, the study investigated changes in the allcause traffic injury risk after program implementation. Changes in the distribution of injury severity and injury event contexts in the intervention community were examined [2]. In Sweden, the positioning of the local government in the program structure appears to be the most important factor determining program effectiveness
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