Abstract
Unintentional injury is a significant public health burden for American Indians and Alaska Natives and was the leading cause of death among those aged 1 to 44 years between 1999 and 2004. Of those deaths, motor vehicle-related deaths cause the most mortality, justifying the need for intervention at an American Indian Reservation in Arizona (United States). We describe motor vehicle injury prevention program operations from 2004 through 2013. This community-based approach led by a multidisciplinary team primarily comprised of environmental public health and law enforcement personnel implemented evidence-based strategies to reduce the impact of motor vehicle-related injuries and deaths, focusing on reducing impaired driving and increasing occupant restraint use. Strategies included: mass media campaigns to enhance awareness and outreach; high-visibility sobriety checkpoints; passing and enforcing 0.08% blood alcohol concentration limits for drivers and primary occupant restraint laws; and child car seat distribution and education. Routine monitoring and evaluation data showed a significant 5% to 7% annual reduction of motor vehicle crashes (MVCs), nighttime MVCs, MVCs with injuries/fatalities, and nighttime MVCs with injuries/fatalities between 2004 and 2013, but the annual percent change in arrests for driving under the influence (DUI) was not significant. There was also a 144% increase in driver/front seat passenger seat belt use, from 19% in 2011 before the primary occupant restraint law was enacted to 47% during the first full year of enforcement (2013). Car seat checkpoint data also suggested a 160% increase in car seat use, from less than 20% to 52% in 2013. Implementation of evidence-based strategies in injury prevention, along with employment of key program approaches such as strong partnership building, community engagement, and consistent staffing and funding, can narrow the public health disparity gap experienced among American Indian and Alaska Native communities.
Highlights
Global Health: Science and Practice 2015 | Volume 3 | Number 4 even more acute for AI/AN in Arizona, for whom it was the leading cause of death for all ages during the same time period.[1]
The leading cause of unintentional injury death for AI/AN in Arizona was motor vehicle-traffic related, which accounted for 60.5% of all unintentional injury deaths.[1]
The injury crashes and nighttime crashes were tracked since alcohol-involved crashes are associated with greater likelihood of injury,[10] and alcohol-involved crashes are more frequent during nighttime hours.[11]
Summary
Global Health: Science and Practice 2015 | Volume 3 | Number 4 even more acute for AI/AN in Arizona, for whom it was the leading cause of death for all ages during the same time period.[1] The leading cause of unintentional injury death for AI/AN in Arizona was motor vehicle-traffic related, which accounted for 60.5% of all unintentional injury deaths.[1] Nationally in 2005, the age-adjusted motor vehicle-related death rate among AI/AN was 2.01 times higher than among all races.[2]. Injuries—whether fatal or non-fatal—impose obvious impacts in AI/AN populations on the affected victims, Reducing Motor Vehicle-Related Injuries at an Arizona Indian Reservation www.ghspjournal.org. Injury can injury is a leading have less obvious impacts. Due to the higher cause of death incidence of injury in younger age groups, fatal among American injury may involve premature death. Years of Indians and Alaska Natives in the United States
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