Patient and injury characteristics associated with road traffic mortality in general hospitals in southern Thailand

Abstract

Abstract Background Road traffic injuries are a major public health burden in developing countries. Thailand has the highest fatality rate from road traffic injuries in southeast Asia so that prevention of unintentional injuries is important. Objective To identify patient and injury characteristics associated with road traffic mortality in the southern provinces of Thailand. Methods Data on a total of 78,862 road traffic injuries recorded by the general hospitals in 5 southern provinces of Thailand, during 2008–2013, were obtained from the Office of Disease Prevention and Control. Chi-squared test was used to determine the association between patient/injury characteristics and road traffic mortality, and logistic regression was used to identify the strength of associations. Results In this study, road traffic mortality was found to be 1.8% of all injuries. Most of the deaths occurred in males (61.7%), who were aged 25–44 years (35.8%), being drivers (68.6%), using motorcycle (78.4%), and not wearing a helmet (61.0%). Road traffic mortality was higher among males, older age people, those who were not wearing a helmet or not fastening a seat belt, pedestrians and when people crashed with or by motor car, with wound being penetrating or blunt with penetrating, and when they were having head or neck, chest, or abdominal or pelvic cavity injuries. Conclusion Policies and measures for reducing road traffic mortality should focus on males and older aged persons, use of safety devices, and occurrence of multiple injuries.