Risk Factors for Road Traffic Injuries among Different Road Users in the Gambia

We identified risk factors for road traffic injuries among road users who received treatment at two major trauma hospitals in urban Gambia. The study includes pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and drivers/passengers of cars and trucks. We examined distributions of injury by age, gender, collis...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of environmental and public health Vol. 2017; no. 2017; pp. 1 - 9
Main Authors:	Daffeh, Babanding, Young, Tracy L., Bass, Paul, Peek-Asa, Corinne, Sanyang, Edrisa, Fuortes, Laurence J.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Cairo, Egypt Hindawi Publishing Corporation 01-01-2017 Hindawi John Wiley & Sons, Inc Hindawi Limited
Subjects:	Accidents, Traffic - classification Accidents, Traffic - statistics & numerical data Adolescent Adult Female Gambia - epidemiology Hospitalization - statistics & numerical data Humans Male Medical research Medicine, Experimental Risk Factors Traffic accidents Wounds and Injuries - epidemiology Wounds and Injuries - etiology Young Adult Gambia
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Summary:	We identified risk factors for road traffic injuries among road users who received treatment at two major trauma hospitals in urban Gambia. The study includes pedestrians, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and drivers/passengers of cars and trucks. We examined distributions of injury by age, gender, collision vehicle types and vehicle category, and driver and environment factors. Two hundred and fifty-four patients were included in the study. Two-thirds were male and one-third female. Two-thirds (67%) of road traffic injuries involved pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists; and these were more common during weekdays (74%) than weekends. Nearly half (47%) of road traffic injuries involved pedestrians. One-third (34%) of injured patients were students (mean age of students was less than 14 years), more than half (51%) of whom were injured on the roadway as pedestrians. Head/skull injuries were common. Concussion/brain injuries were 3.5 times higher among pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists than vehicle occupants. Crashes involving pedestrians were more likely to involve young people (<25 years; aOR 6.36, 95% CI: 3.32–12.17) and involve being struck by a motor car (aOR 3.95, 95% CI: 2.09–7.47). Pedestrians contribute the largest proportion of hospitalizations in the Gambia. Young pedestrians are at particularly high risk. Prevention efforts should focus on not only vehicle and driver factors, but also protecting pedestrians, bicyclists, and motorcyclists.
Bibliography:	ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 Academic Editor: Stephen Leeder
ISSN:	1687-9805 1687-9813
DOI:	10.1155/2017/8612953