Road-traffic-related mortality in Iran: a descriptive study
Introduction
In 1998, an estimated 1 170 694 people died from road traffic injuries worldwide. Of these, 88% were in low- and middle-income countries.1 For instance, road traffic accidents are considered to be the second highest cause of mortality in Iran (highest cause is coronary heart disease). During recent years, there has been a steady increase in road traffic accidents, and data for the period 1995–2000 indicate that there was an estimated 8% annual increase in mortality due to road traffic accidents (see Fig. 1). It is argued that compared with the magnitude of the problem in developing countries, there has been relatively little study on road traffic accidents and their consequences, and it could be regarded as ‘the neglected epidemic.’2 Evidence suggests that motor vehicle accidents cause substantial numbers of deaths in countries that are relatively new to motorization,3 and the key question is how these countries can avoid many unnecessary deaths.4 This paper is the first to report data from a descriptive study on mortality data attributable to road traffic accidents in Iran.
Section snippets
Methods
All Iranian mortality data on road traffic injuries (ICD-10 codes V02-04, V09, V12-14, V19, V20-79, V86-89) that occurred between March 1999 and 2000 (one complete Iranian calendar year) were obtained. This was the most recent and most complete data. To achieve the study objective, the main variables studied were deceased's gender, age, education level, status (i.e. driver, car occupant, etc.), cause and place of death. The data were obtained from the Statistics Division of the Iranian Legal
Results
A total of 15 482 individuals died from road traffic accidents in Iran in the study period. Given that the population of Iran is 60 055 488, the crude mortality rate was 25.8 per 100 000 population (39.1 and 10.5 per 100 000 for males and females, respectively). However, of these, data for 15 045 individuals were complete and were included in the analysis.
Discussion
Head injury was the most common single cause of mortality attributable to road traffic accidents in Iran, and most deaths occurred pre-hospital. Use of seat belts and safety helmets is compulsory in Iran, but unfortunately most people do not use these safety measures; this may explain why most deaths were caused by head injuries. Road traffic accidents alone account for an estimated five million head injuries worldwide.5 However, it has been shown that the use of seat belts is the single most
Acknowledgements
The author wishes to thank the Statistics Division of the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization for providing the data.
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