Road traffic fatalities - a neglected epidemic in rural northern Ghana: evidence from the navrongo demographic surveillance system.

Ayaga Bawah,Daniel K Azongo,George Wak,Paul Welaga,Abraham Oduro,James F Phillips

doi:10.1186/s40621-014-0022-3

Ayaga Bawah, Daniel K Azongo + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40621-014-0022-3

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Abstract

BackgroundGlobally, road traffic fatalities have been on the increase, particularly in low-and-middle income countries. Much of this is attributed to increases in the acquisition, and use of motorized vehicles. However, there is very little empirical research to understand the causes and determinants of this threat. This paper investigates time trends and determinants of road traffic accidents in the Kassena-Nankana district of northern Ghana.MethodsFirst, we utilized causes of death data gathered by the Health and Demographic Surveillance System in Navrongo, to examine trends in deaths due to injury, particularly those related to road traffic crashes. Subsequently, we employed multivariate logistic regression to examine factors associated with deaths due to all injuries and road traffic crashes among adults 15–59 years of age.ResultsResults show a three-fold increase in mortality (from less than 6% in 1995 to about 18% in 2010) due to injuries in the Kassena-Nankana district in about a decade. Fatalities resulting from road traffic crashes constitute the greatest share of the burden of mortality resulting from injuries. Increases in road traffic fatalities have coincided with recent increases in motor and vehicular traffic in the region. Several factors are associated with the increased risk of deaths from road traffic accidents, principal among which include urban residence (OR = 1.74 95% CI 1.09-2.78), being male and in the prime adult ages of between 20–29 years old (OR = 4.85 95% CI 2.65-8.89), as well as people with higher levels of education (OR = 3.21 95% CI 1.75-5.87) and those in higher socioeconomic status categories (OR = 2.43 95% CI 1.21-4.88).ConclusionsResults suggest that road traffic fatalities have become a major cause of morbidity and mortality and brings into focus the need for measures to curb this looming crisis. There is need for strategic interventions to be adopted to avert what is sure to become one of the leading causes of death in this impoverished locality.

Highlights

Road traffic fatalities have been on the increase, in low-and-middle income countries
Of the injury deaths, 128 (45.5) of them were due to road traffic fatalities alone
Road traffic crashes constitute the greatest share of the burden of injury mortality in this area and it is for this reason that we focused this paper on road traffic crashes as a share of overall injury mortality

Summary

Introduction

Road traffic fatalities have been on the increase, in low-and-middle income countries. Much of this is attributed to increases in the acquisition, and use of motorized vehicles. Literature reviewed across different countries and settings consistently show that people in the age groups 15–49 or 15–59 are more prone to road traffic fatalities (Bachani et al 2012; Ditsuwan et al 2011; Herman et al 2012; Garrib et al 2011). Disproportionately bear a higher brunt of the share of road traffic accidents and fatalities than females (Garrib et al 2011; Ditsuwan et al 2011)

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