Epidemiology of Road Traffic Crash Injuries as Seen in the Emergency Room of a Tertiary Hospital in Delta State, Nigeria

Abstract

Background/Objective: Road traffic crashes are an important source of frequent trauma with resultant morbidities and mortalities in Nigeria and worldwide. We aim to highlight important epidemiological characteristics and injury patterns in road traffic crash victims presenting at our centre and make suggestions on possible ways to alleviate the problem. Patients and Methods: Consecutive adult road traffic crash victims who presented with various injuries at the emergency room in our health facility within the study period and agreed to participate in the study were included. Data on age, sex, type of vehicle and circumstances of crash, types of injuries etc were collected on already prepared forms by attending emergency room physicians. Data analysis was carried out using SPSS version 17 (SPSS Inc. Chicargo, Illinois. USA). Results: Data were collected for 88 eligible adult road crash victims during the study period. There were 53 males and 35 females (M:F = 1.5:1). Mean age was 37 ± 14 years. Most of the victims fell within the age groups of 20 -29 years (33.3%) and 30 – 39 years (22.7%). Motorcycles were the most commonly involved (40.4%). Sixty five point two per cent (65.2 %) of the crashes involved commercial vehicles. Over speeding was adjudged as the most probable cause of crashes by 30.1% of victims. Passengers were the victims in 46.6% of cases and drivers in 37.5% of cases the rest being pedestrians. The head was injured in more than 40% of cases followed by lower extremity injuries. The victims sustained a total of 58 fractures the tibia and fibula being the most frequently fractured bones. Most of the victims (70.5%) were conscious and stable at presentation. Nearly all the victims (95.5%) were rescued and brought to hospital by other road users, fellow passengers and relatives. Conclusion: Road traffic crashes frequently affect males and the most productive age groups with its attendant dire consequences on the socio-economic life of the people. Human related factors such as over speeding significantly contribute to its occurrence. There is almost non-existence of rescue and pre-hospital care in our environment. The need for drivers / road user’s education, road maintenance and putting in place a well organized rescue and pre-hospital care team is emphasized.