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Original research
Geospatial analysis of injury severity on major roads in Ghana (2017–2020): implications for targeted injury prevention and control initiatives
  1. Aldina Mesic1,2,3,
  2. James Damsere-Derry4,
  3. Caryl Feldacker1,
  4. Joshua Larley4,
  5. Irene Opoku4,
  6. Daniel Hardy Wuaku5,
  7. Martin Owusu Afram5,
  8. Ernest Ekuban6,
  9. Stephen J Mooney7,
  10. Adam Gyedu8,9,
  11. Charles N Mock1,3,7,10,
  12. Angela E Kitali11,
  13. Brad H Wagenaar1,
  14. Maxwell Osei-Ampofo12,
  15. Barclay T Stewart3,10
  1. 1Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
  2. 2Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK
  3. 3Global Injury Control Section, Harborview Injury Prevention & Research Center, Seattle, Washington, USA
  4. 4Building and Road Research Institute, Kumasi, Ghana
  5. 5National Road Safety Authority, Accra, Ghana
  6. 6Ghana Highway Authority, Accra, Ghana
  7. 7Epidemiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
  8. 8Surgery, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
  9. 9Directorate of Surgery, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana
  10. 10Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA
  11. 11Civil Engineering, University of Washington, Tacoma, Washington, USA
  12. 12Emergency Medicine, Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, Kumasi, Ghana
  1. Correspondence to Dr Aldina Mesic, Department of Global Health, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA; amesic{at}uw.edu

Abstract

Background Road safety authorities in high-income countries use geospatial motor vehicle collision data for planning hazard reduction and intervention targeting. However, low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) rarely conduct such geospatial analyses due to a lack of data. Since 1991, Ghana has maintained a database of all collisions and is uniquely positioned to lead data-informed road injury prevention and control initiatives.

Methods We identified and mapped geospatial patterns of hotspots of collisions, injuries, severe injuries and deaths using a well-known injury severity index with geographic information systems statistical methods (Getis-Ord Gi*).

Results We identified specific areas (4.66% of major roads in urban areas and 6.16% of major roads in rural areas) to target injury control. Key roads, including National Road 1 (from the border of Cote D’Ivoire to the border of Togo) and National Road 6 (from Accra to Kumasi), have a significant concentration of high-risk roads.

Conclusions A few key road sections are critical to target for injury prevention. We conduct a collaborative geospatial study to demonstrate the importance of addressing data and research gaps in LMICs and call for similar future research on targeting injury control and prevention efforts.

  • Surveillance
  • Planning
  • Policy
  • Public Health

Data availability statement

Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. Data are managed by the Building and Road Research Institute.

https://doi.org/10.1136/ip-2024-045270

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    Data availability statement

    Data may be obtained from a third party and are not publicly available. Data are managed by the Building and Road Research Institute.

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    Footnotes

    • X @moampofo

    • Contributors AM led the analysis, writing, and design. AM is responsible for the overall content as the guarantor. AM, JDD, SM, CM, AG, AK, and BS conceived the design. CF, BHW, DHW, MOA, and MOA contributed to the interpretation of data. JL, IO, and EE contributed to the acquisition of data, analysis, and interpretation. All authors were involved with drafting the manuscript and approved it for publication.

    • Funding Research reported in this publication was supported by the Fogarty International Center of the National Institutes of Health under grants D43TW009345 awarded to the Northern Pacific Global Health Fellows and D43TW007267 awarded to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. It was also supported by the Rivara Endowment Injury Research Grant from the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

    • Map disclaimer The depiction of boundaries on this map does not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of BMJ (or any member of its group) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, jurisdiction or area or of its authorities. This map is provided without any warranty of any kind, either express or implied.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Patient and public involvement Patients and/or the public were not involved in the design, or conduct, or reporting, or dissemination plans of this research.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.