Bawah Ayaga, Welaga Paul, Azongo Daniel K, Wak George, Phillips James F, Oduro Abraham
Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, 10032, NY, USA.
avrongo Health Research Centre, Navrongo, Ghana.
Inj Epidemiol. 2014 Dec;1(1):22. doi: 10.1186/s40621-014-0022-3. Epub 2014 Sep 21.
Globally, 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 Kasena-Nankana district of northern Ghana.
First, 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.
Results show a three-fold increase in mortality (18%) due to injuries in the Kasena-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).
Results 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.
在全球范围内，道路交通死亡人数一直在增加，尤其是在低收入和中等收入国家。这在很大程度上归因于机动车购置和使用的增加。然而，对于这种威胁的成因和决定因素，实证研究非常少。本文调查了加纳北部卡塞纳-南卡纳区道路交通事故的时间趋势和决定因素。
首先，我们利用了纳瓦龙戈卫生与人口监测系统收集的死亡原因数据，来研究因伤死亡的趋势，特别是与道路交通事故相关的死亡趋势。随后，我们采用多变量逻辑回归分析，来研究15至59岁成年人中所有伤害及道路交通事故导致死亡的相关因素。
结果显示，在大约十年时间里，卡塞纳-南卡纳区因伤死亡率（18%）增长了两倍。道路交通事故导致的死亡在因伤死亡负担中占比最大。道路交通事故死亡人数的增加与该地区近期机动车和车辆交通流量的增加相吻合。有几个因素与道路交通事故死亡风险增加有关，其中主要包括城市居住（比值比=1.74，95%置信区间1.09 - 2.78）、男性且年龄在20至29岁的青壮年时期（比值比=4.85，95%置信区间2.65 - 8.89），以及受教育程度较高者（比值比=3.21，95%置信区间1.75 - 5.87）和社会经济地位较高者（比值比=2.43，95%置信区间1.21 - 4.88）。
结果表明，道路交通死亡已成为发病和死亡的主要原因，凸显了采取措施遏制这一迫在眉睫危机的必要性。需要采取战略干预措施，以避免这一情况成为这个贫困地区主要死因之一。
