Fatal Road Traffic Injuries in Hamadan Province, Iran

Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are important health problems in the world and particularly in the low and middle-income countries. The prevention of RTIs needs vast coordinated and comprehensive efforts. Iran has one of the highest number of deaths due to the RTIs in the world. The objective of this study was to determine the epidemiological characteristics of fatal RTIs in Hamadan Province, Iran. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Hamadan province of Iran, during a 24-month period, from 21 March 2009 to 20 March 2011. The data of fatal injuries were obtained from the Forensic Medicine Department of Hamadan province. The data were analyzed by using statistical package for social sciences (version16). This study showed that a number of 1434 road traffic related mortality was reported during two years, including 730 in 21 March 2009 to 20 March 2010 and 704 in 21 March 2010 to 20 March 2011. The highest number of deaths occurred among men (78.66%) and in the age group of 21-40 years (38%). The highest number of deaths occurred among the illiterate and low-literate individuals (52.1%); whereas, the lowest number of deaths occurred among people with university education (9.13%). Furthermore, the most fatal crashes occurred in the summer (35.56%). The head injuries were the most common cause of fatal RTIs (50.20%). The most of the vehicles which were involved with crash related deaths were car and the most of the deaths occurred in the scenes of crashes (48.39%). This study showed that the highest number of deaths occurred among drivers (40.65%) and were on the roads outside the cities (65.13%). The results of this study showed that RITs should be regarded as important health problems. Their characteristics, which were determined in this study, can help to develop more appropriate intervention programs