Characteristics, reasons and patterns of Road Traffic Injuries presenting in emergency department of a tertiary care public hospital in Karachi.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the main characteristics, reasons and patterns of road traffic injuries (RTIs) in a tertiary care public hospital of Karachi.

METHODS

It was a hospital based cross sectional study conducted in a public tertiary care hospital emergency department with a sample size 425 selected conveniently. Participants included the consenting victims or caretaking attendants of road traffic injuries (RTIs) from 25 May to 28 June in 2019. A structured questionnaire was developed after literature review and was translated into "Urdu" language. The questionnaire collected detailed information on socio-demographic characteristics, possible reasons of RTI's such as condition of vehicle, over speeding and breaking traffic rules. Data was analyzed by using software SPSS version 20.

RESULTS

Almost half of RTI victims (43.1%) belonged to the age group 18-29. Majority of the victims were males (86.6%). The most common vehicle involved was motorbike (87.50%) followed by Rickshaw (6.8%) and Car (2.4%). Majority of RTIs occurred on main road (75.30%). The most common sites of injuries were lower limb (64%), upper limb (37.60%) and head (32.2%). The severe injuries were significantly more likely to happen in events in which direct collision with other vehicle/thing was involved, road conditions were wet and pedestrian were crossing the road.

CONCLUSION

Motorbikes were involved in majority of RTIs. Main reasons of RTIs included irresponsible road behaviors including over-speeding, careless road crossing, breaking the signal and riding on wet roads which lead to moderate to severe injuries in almost two thirds of participants.