జర్నల్ ఆఫ్ ట్రామా & ట్రీట్‌మెంట్

Epidemiological, Characteristics and Outcomes of Road Traffic Accident among Patients in Emergency Unit in Iraq

Abstract

Ahmed Abdulhasan Hussein Alogaili and Wisam Abdulridha Khullof

Traffic accidents constitute about 85% of deaths, especially in developing countries. Traffic accidents have become a source of anxiety and terror among everyone, with an impact on human, technical and environmental factors. This study aimed to identify the epidemiological, characteristics and outcomes of Road Traffic accident among patients in emergency unit during the study period. A retrospective cross sectional study was conducted among 198471 patients with road traffic injuries were registered at 15 provinces on Iraq. The data reported to the present study were collected between January 2020 and December 2020. Data onto patients were recorded including cause and location of injury, frequency and type of injury (frequency of soft tissue injuries and bone fractures), as well as age and gender distribution. Males comprised 70.2% of the total fatalities, while females accounted for 29.8%. The age group of 15-44 years was the most vulnerable (54.71%) of the total cases followed by the age group 5-14 years (20.8%) and ≥ 45 years (16.6%). Majority of victims were unemployed (61.2%) and (65%) were married. Car accident constituted the large victim group of road traffic accident fatalities and injuries (32.9%), followed by motorcycle (25.7%). The official statistics revealed of the threat to minibus (16.1%) and lorry (15.3%). out of total number of 78201 cases (39.4%) that sustained head injury, Skull fractures were found in 44361 (22.4%) cases of head injury. Among other injuries, most commonly injured abdominal organ was (16.6%) followed by the upper extremity (16.2%). Conclusion in short, it has been shown in this study that male gender, young ages, and involvement of cars and drivers and pedestrians pose a higher risk, mortality, and morbidity. Our results may be useful for forensic pathologists and clinicians and for mechanical engineers who investigate new safety devices for vehicle occupants.