Epidemiological Patterns of Road Traffic Crashes During the Last Two Decades in Iran: A Review of the Literature from 1996 to 2014

Abstract

ContextDespite considerable attention given to health statistics of road traffic crashes (RTCs), the epidemiological aspects of injuries resulting from RTCs are not fully understood in Iran and other developing countries. The aim of this review was to study the epidemiological pattern and issues arising due to RTCs in Iran.Evidence AcquisitionThe scope of this study involves data from a broad range of published literature on RTCs in Iran. Data collection for this study was conducted by searching for keywords such as traffic accidents, traffic crashes, motorcycle accidents, motorcycle crashes, motorcycle injury, motor vehicle injury, motor vehicle crashes and motor vehicle accidents, Iran and Iranian in various databases such as Embase, PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, Magiran, Iranian scientific information database (SID) and IranMedex.ResultsThis study comprised of 95 articles. It is evident from this review that a large number of severe RTCs occur due to collision of two or more vehicles and most of the victims are males aged between 30 and 39 years. Male pedestrian, drivers and passengers are more likely to be severely injured in comparison to females. One of the most prevalent causes of death among adults involved in the RTCs are head injuries and the majority of deaths occur prior to hospitalization. Mortality rates for RTCs are higher in summer, especially during midnight among all age groups. The most common individual and environmental risk factors associated with RTCs include lack of attention, getting trapped in the car, listening to music, fatigue and sleepiness, duration and distance and negligence of seatbelt usage while driving.ConclusionsThe findings of the current study will be beneficial in prevention of RTCs and its associated complications and hence will be vital for policy makers, health service managers and stakeholders.

Epidemiological Study of Road Traffic Accidents and Detection of Accident Hot Spot in Golestan Province, Northern Iran

“…In line with other studies in Iran (21,22), we found that the frequency of RTAs in summer was almost 2-fold higher compared to other seasons. The could be due to the fact that summer is the main travel season in Iran and the Golestan Province is one of the most popular travel destinations in this season.…”

“…According to the Global Burden of Disease study in 2010, RTAs are the second leading cause of death and the main cause of disability adjusted life years lost in Iran (2). In Iran, RTA-associated mortality rate is approximately 30-44 death per 100,000 people, which is almost twice the rate in European countries (3)(4)(5)(6). In the north of Iran, the burden of traffic accidents is high (7,8) and the rate of fatal accidents is higher than other parts of the country because of crowded roads (9).…”

Epidemiology of Traffic Fatalities among Motorcycle Users in East Azerbaijan, Iran

“…The epidemiological aspects of injuries are not well defined in Iran and other developing countries due to loss of appropriate information systems [5]. Road traffic mortality is high in Iran compared to many countries in the world including many low and middle income countries and traffic injuries in Iran are recommended to be addressed as one of the highest public health priorities to be addressed efficiently [2, 5–7].…”

Epidemiology of Road Traffic Injury Fatalities among Car Users; A Study Based on Forensic Medicine Data in East Azerbaijan of Iran

“…As mentioned by some studies, health benefits like higher level of physical activities and lower level of air pollution for the population of a metropolitan city could be produced by interventions in car use reduction [5]. Precisely, in spite of vast researches done into road traffic related issues, they are lack of vehicle-specific epidemiological studies, particularly in NorthWest of Iran [6]. Consequently, collective evidence demonstrates basic necessity for figuring out the multifactorial aspects of car users mortalities.…”