Abstract
Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are a major problem worldwide with a high burden of mental health problems and the importance of psychological support following road injury is well documented. However, globally there has been very little research on the accessibility of psychological services following road injury. Namibia is one of the countries most affected by RTIs but no previous studies have been done on this. In this qualitative study we investigated the availability of psychological services to RTI injured in Namibia. Our study findings are in line with those of other global studies in showing inadequate access to psychological support for injury survivors and we discuss the reasons. It is hoped these findings will help policymakers develop ways of enhancing access to psychological support for the many people injured in RTIs in Namibia. The models they develop may also be of use to other LMICs countries with high RTI rates.
Highlights
Road traffic injuries (RTIs) have dramatically risen and are a major contributor to the global burden of deaths and injuries, with over 1.2 million people killed and between 20 and 50 million injured annually [1]
We focused on Namibia because despite its lower and middle income countries (LMICs) status, it is one of five countries in subSaharan Africa (SSA) that have a system whereby a fuel tax levy Fund has been set up which is meant to provide support for road injury survivors
Given the acknowledged high burden of mental health problems following road injury, our results indicate that many of those injured in RTIs in Namibia are not receiving the psychological support they require and which could be covered by Namibia’s effective Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVAF) system
Summary
Road traffic injuries (RTIs) have dramatically risen and are a major contributor to the global burden of deaths and injuries, with over 1.2 million people killed and between 20 and 50 million injured annually [1]. RTIs have short and long-term psychological outcomes for those affected and their families [3]. A review of psychiatric morbidity following an RTI showed the most commonly reported disorders were depression (21–67% across studies), anxiety (4–87%), and driving phobia (2–47%), while prevalence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) ranged from zero to 100% [6]. Higher prevalence of PTSD has been identified in RTI survivors as compared with the general population or control groups [7] as well as those injured in RTIs compared to falls [4] Work by [8] established that within the first year post-injury, about 20% of injured survivors developed an acute stress reaction and about
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
