A cross-sectional study on road traffic injuries: expanding epidemic in developing countries

Introduction: Worldwide, road traffic accidents are one of the leading causes of death. The mechanism and extent of injuries in patients will vary according to the nature of the vehicle, its speed, and the site of impact. The aim of this study is to assess the particular aspects of RTAs including socio-demographic factors, details of vehicles, sites of injuries and the outcome of RTAs.Methodology: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional study in a tertiary care center, for two months from November 2019. A data extraction form was used to collect socio-demographic details, details of vehicles and drivers, sites of injuries, places, time, transport mode, and outcome of incident. Descriptive statistics and multi variate analysis.Results: A total of 102 victims were studied including 92 (90.2%) males and 10 (9.8%) females. 60.8% of victims were in the range of 19 to 40 years. Around 10% of senior citizens (above 60 years) met RTA. Most of the accidents happened from 3 am to 10 pm (44.1%). Most happened in urban places (69.6%). Lower limb injuries were the most common injury (42.2%). Mortality rate was 2%. Outcome of RTA was statistically associated with age (p=0.010), time of RTA (p=0.030) and type of victims (p=0.042) at 5% level of significance.Conclusion: This study offers significant insights into road traffic accidents and their consequences. It highlights the need to factor in gender, age, time of day, urban or rural context, and victim type in crafting road safety strategies. Further investigation and interventions are warranted to address the unique risks and requirements of diverse demographics in order to mitigate the occurrence and gravity of such accidents.