Road Traffic Accidents :Age and Gender distribution and impact of Religious Month and Holidays (Ramadan and Eid) on frequency of RTAs in Karachi Pakistan
Vol 2 | Issue 2 | May – Aug 2016 | page:40-43 | Ranjeet Kumar, Muhammad Muzzammil, Muhammed Saeed Minhas, Anisuddin Bhatti, Vinod Kumar, Syed Jahanzeb.
Author: Ranjeet Kumar [1], Muhammad Muzzammil [1], Muhammed Saeed Minhas [1], Anisuddin Bhatti [1], Vinod Kumar [1], Syed Jahanzeb [1].
[1] Jinnah Postgraduate Medical centre Karachi, Pakistan.
Address of Correspondence
Dr Nadeem A Faruqui
14/116d, Civil Lines,
Kanpur 208001 India
Email: nafaruqui@hotmail.com
Abstract
Background: Road safety is an important public health issue in Pakistan. The aim of this study was to investigate trends in road traffic accidents (RTCs) managed by accident and emergency department in Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, their age and gender distribution and impact of religious month, Ramadan and Eid on frequency of Road traffic accidents in Karachi
Design: cross-sectional study.
Place and duration of study: Accident & emergency department of Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Center, Civil hospital, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Aga Khan hospital and Liaqat Hospital Karachi. Pakistan from Jan 2014 to December 2014.
Patients and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out by ROAD TRAFFIC INJURY RESEARCH AND PREVENTION CENTRE “RTIR&PC” in the five tertiary care hospitals (Civil Hospital ,Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and Aga Khan Hospital) of Karachi, Pakistan. All road traffic accident victims presented to the emergency department of the selected hospital, were included in the study. A pretested trauma registry form was completed for all patients.
Results: Total numbers of accidents were 24360 and total number of injured were 30274. Minor injury 23825 approximately 78.6%, around 65 per day, serious were 5382 approximately 17%,around 15 per day and fatal were 1067 approximately 3.5%, 3 per day. Male injured were 25263 around 83% and female were 5011 around 17%. According to casualities with respect to age were from 16-20 years male were 5136 around 20% and female were 553 around 11% total of 5689 , from 21-25 years male were 4785 around 19% and female were 674 around 13% total of 5459 , from 26-30 years male were 3546 around 14% and female were 613 around 12% total of 4159 and under 15 years male were 3165 around 13% and female were 840 around 19% total of 4105 , other age and gender distribution given in table 1. On month wise casualities, highest casualities recorded in month of June and July of 2014. Ramadan was from June to July in 2014 and Eid was in July in 2014. In June 2014 injured were 3080 around 11% and fatal were 72 around 7% and in July 2014 injured were 3506 around 12% and fatal were 112 around 10 %. Record of other months casualities given in table 2. Injuries related to body part were , head and neck 23% ,fatal were 53%, face 17% ,fatal were 16%, chest 1% fatal 1%, abdomen, pelvic contents 1% fatal 1%, extremity, pelvic girdle 29% fatal 17% external injuries 28% fatal 12%.
Conclusion: The study has described trends of RTAs managed by emergency department of hospitals in karachi. Hospital of Karachi experienced a higher burden of RTAs emergencies in the month of Ramadan 2014 as compared with the preceding months of the year. This increase was mostly concentrated among younger ages range from 16-25 years of age. Injuries in city of Karachi are an important public health problem and contribute to major bulk of Emergency facilities. These accidents and the resultant injuries have considerable physical and socioeconomic impacts; therefore, this issue needs to be addressed. By putting into effect laws that enforce road safety measures and helmet usage can prevent these injuries.
Keywords: RTAs (Road traffic accident).
Introduction
Road traffic crashes (RTAs) are one of the most pressing international health and development concerns in the world. Every year, nearly 1.3 million people die as a result of a road traffic collision – more than 3000 deaths each day – and more than half of these people are not travelling in a car. . It was the 2nd leading cause of deaths among 15 – 44 years of age and 80% of these deaths occurred in developing countries . According to the World Health Organization (WHO) 2011 fact sheet, “over 90% of the world’s fatalities on the roads occur in low-income and middle-income countries, even though these countries have less than half of the world’s vehicles [1,2]. In Pakistan, half of all major incidents and two thirds of all deaths in major incidents are due to RTAs In Pakistan [3]. In Pakistan the incidence of road traffic injuries to be around 15–17 per 1000 persons per year estimated by two independent population-based surveys [4–6]. It is estimated that approximately 40 000 people die on the roads every year in Pakistan and many more sustain serious injuries [6]. In addition to the suffering, these injuries contribute significantly to the workload in hospitals, leading to direct costs to the Pakistani economy of over US$ 1 billion [4,7,8]. Various studies in many countries have raised the issue of the increased number of RTCs during holidays and festive periods such as Christmas and New Year [9–11]. An increasing trend of RTAs has also been documented, In countries that celebrate Ramadan, Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, [12-15]. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and lasts 29 or 30 days. It is the Islamic month of fasting, in which participating Muslims refrain from eating, drinking, smoking and sex during daylight hours
Methods
It is cross sectional study conducted by Road Traffic Injury Research And Prevention Centre “RTIR&PC” in emergency department of all five major hospitals in Karachi including Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Civil hospital, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, Aga Khan Hospital and Liaqat Hospital Karachi. . All road traffic accident victims presented to the emergency department of the selected hospital, were included in the study. Inclusion criteria were injured patients of any age or sex presenting to the Accident, Emergency . A pretested trauma registry form was completed for all patients. If the patient was brought unconscious, an attempt was made to collect the information from the patient’s attendant. Basic demographic characteristics, time and date, nature and cause of injury, vital signs and outcome data were recorded. Type of vehicle and mode of collision was recorded in cases of road traffic accident.
Results
Total numbers of accidents were 24360 and total number of injured were 30274. Minor injury 23825 (78.6%), around 65 per day, serious were 5382(17%), around 15 per day and fatal were 1067 (3.5%), 3 per day(table-1, Fig-1).
Male injured were 25263 around 83% and female were 5011 around 17%. According to casualities with respect to age were from 16-20 years male were 5136 around 20% and female were 553 around 11% total of 5689 , from 21-25 years male were 4785 around 19% and female were 674 around 13% total of 5459 , from 26-30 years male were 3546 around 14% and female were 613 around 12% total of 4159 and under 15 years male were 3165 around 13% and female were 840 around 19% total of 4105 (table-2, Fig-2).
On month wise casualities highest casualities recorded in month of June and July of 2014 . Ramadan was from June to July in 2014 and Eid was in July in 2014. In June 2014 injured were 3080 around 11% and fatal were 72 around 7% and in July 2014 injured were 3506 around 12% and fatal were 112 around 10 % (table-3, Fig-3).
Injuries related to body part were , head and neck 23% ,fatal were 53%, face 17% ,fatal were 16%, chest 1% fatal 1%, abdomen, pelvic contents 1% fatal 1%, extremity, pelvic girdle 29% fatal 17% external injuries 28% fatal 12%(fig-4).
Discussion
Trauma is increasingly recognized as a global public health epidemic. WHO has predicted that trauma will rise from 9th leading burden of disease in 1990 to third leading cause in 2020 worldwide . The results of this study revealed a growing rate of RTAs in June and July 2014 (the Islamic month of Ramadan and Eid). In this month, the number of RTAs was higher than the RTAs per month. In present study we found that annual incidence of trauma in road traffic accidents are commonly affecting younger group from 16 -25 years age which also have the highest fatality percentage among all road traffic accidents. In the present study, young age group were predominately involved in the reported RTAs. Fractures of extremities ,external and head injuries were the major injuries sustained by these young people. We also found out that head and neck injuries are the commonest cause of fatality in these incidences. Similar findings have also been reported in research studies from Pakistan [4–8,16-18], India [19-22] and other countries [23-29]. In Ramadan as people wish to be at their homes before iftar (the evening meal when Muslims break their fast). Thus, to return home early, drivers may become impatient and violate traffic rules (e.g. signal violations, speeding, overtaking), often resulting in different forms of RTAs. Similar trend was also observed in other countries celebrating Ramadan [12-15]. The socioeconomic consequences of road traffic injuries include costs of prolonged medical care, loss of the family breadwinner and loss of income due to disability; together these factors often push families into poverty [30].
Conclusion
The study has described trends of RTAs managed by emergency department of hospitals in Karachi. Hospital of Karachi experienced a higher burden of RTAs emergencies in the month of Ramadan 2014 as compared with the preceding months of the year. This increase was mostly concentrated among younger ages range from 16-25 years of age. Injuries in city of Karachi are an important public health problem and contribute to major bulk of Emergency facilities. These accidents and the resultant injuries have considerable physical and socioeconomic impacts; therefore, this issue needs to be addressed. By putting into effect laws that enforce road safety measures and helmet usage can prevent these injuries.
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| How to Cite this article: Kumar R, Muzzammil M, Minhas MS, Bhatti A, Kumar V, Syed J. Road Traffic Accidents :Age and Gender distribution and impact of Religious Month and Holidays (Ramadan and Eid) on frequency of RTAs in Karachi Pakistan . Trauma International May – Aug 2016;2(2):40-43. |
