Multicentric study of epidemiological and clinical characteristics of persons injured in motor vehicle accidents in Medellín, Colombia, 2009-2010
Abstract
Introduction: Traffic accidents (TA) cause 1.23 million deaths each year worldwide while between 20 and 50 million persons are injured each year. In 2011 in Medellin, Colombia, there were 307 traffic deaths and 23,835 injured with 411 accidents for each 10,000 vehicles.
Objective: The purpose of the study was to describe the epidemiologic and clinical characteristics, as well as the quality of life and disability outcomes for those injured in traffic accidents in Medellin.
Methods: This prospective, descriptive, cross-sectional study collected data from 834 patients that were classified with the New Injury Severity Score (NISS) , the WHODAS-II (Disability Assessment) Scale and the SF-36 Health Survey.
Results: Three-fourths (75.8%) of the patients were male. Eightyone percent of patients were involved in motorcycle accidents, with 45.6% suffering moderate trauma, and 32.6% experiencing severe trauma. Of the patients with severe trauma, 8.5% were not wearing helmets. Half of the sample (49.7%) injured their extremities. The WHODAS-II domains most affected were: Activities outside the home (62.0 %), Housework (54.3%) and Moving in one’s environment (45.2 %). Quality of life areas affected were: Physical role (20.3%), Body pain (37.3 %) Emotional role (44.1%), Physical functioning (52.6 %).
Conclusions: Patients with more severe injuries had higher levels of disability and a worse quality of life. Motorcycles made up a large proportion of traffic accidents in this city and mitigation strategies to reduce this public health problem should particularly focus on this high-risk group.
Authors
Downloads
Keywords
- Traffic accidents
- injury severity
- new injury severity score (NISS)
- quality of life
- disability
- WHODAS-II
- SF-36
References
1. WHO . Global Status Report On Road Safety: Time For Action. Geneva: World Health Organization. 2009;
2. Alcaldía de Medellín-Secretaría de Transportes y Tránsito. Informe anual de accidentalidad. 1 st. Medellin: Litoservicios; 2011.
3. MacKenzie EJ, Shapiro S, Smith RT, Siegel JH, Moody M, Pitt A, et al. Factors influencing return to work following hospitalization for traumatic injury. Am J Public Health. 1987; 77(3): 329-34.
4. Michaels AJ, Michaels CE, Smith JS, Moon CH, Peterson C, Long WB, et al. Outcome from injury: general health, work status, and satisfaction 12 months after trauma. J Trauma. 2000; 48(5): 841-8.
5. Holtslag HR, van Beeck EF, Lindeman E, Leenen LP. Determinants of long-term functional consequences after major trauma. J Trauma. 2007; 62(4): 919-27.
6. Holbrook TL, Anderson JP, Sieber WJ, Browner D, Hoyt DB. Outcome after major trauma: 12-month and 18-month follow-up results from the Trauma Recovery Project. J Trauma. 1999; 46(5): 765-71.
7. Soberg HL, Bautz-Holter E, Roise O, Finset. A long-term multidimensional functional consequences of severe multiple injuries two years after trauma: A prospective longitudinal cohort study. J Trauma. 2007; 62(2): 461-70.
8. Hours M, Bernard M, Charnay P, Chossegros L, Javouhey E, Fort E, et al. Functional outcome after road-crash injury: Description of the ESPARR victims cohort and 6-month follow-up results. Accid Anal Prev. 2010; 42(2): 412-21.
9. Osler T, Baker SP, Long W. A modification of the injury severity score that both improves accuracy and simplifies scoring. J Trauma. 1997; 43(6): 922-5.
10. WHO. WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0 WHODAS 2.0. Geneva: World Health Organization. 2011;
11. Lugo LH, García HI, Gómez C. Confiabilidad del cuestionario de calidad de vida SF-36 en Medellin, Colombia. Rev Fac Nac Sal Públ. 2006; 24(2): 37-50.
12. Osoro ME, Ng’ang’a Z, Oundo J, Omolo J, Luman E. Factors associated with severity of road traffic injuries, Thika, Kenya. Pan Afric Med J. 2011; 8(1): 20.
13. Chossegros L, Hours M, Charnay P, Bernard M, Fort E, Boisson D, et al. Predictive factors of chronic post-traumatic stress disorder 6 months after a road traffic accident. Accid Anal Prev. 2011; 43(1): 471-7.
14. Reynaud M, Le Breton P, Gilot B, Vervialle F, Falissard B. Alcohol is the main factor in excess traffic accident fatalities in France. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2002; 26(12): 1833-9.
15. Aslam M, Taj TM, Ali SA, Mirza WA, Badar N. Non-fatal limb injuries in motorbike accidents. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2008; 18(10): 635-8.
16. Batista NL, Cardoso RM. Traffic accidents with motorcycles and their relationship to mortality. Rev Latino-Am Enfermagem. 2011; 19(2): 403-10.
17. Aslam M, Taj TM, Ali SA, Mirza WA, Badar N. Non-fatal limb injuries in motorbike accidents. J Coll Physicians Surg Pak. 2008; 18(10): 635-8.
18. Bacchieri G, Barros A. Traffic accidents in Brazil from. 1998 to 2010: many changes and few effects. Rev Saúde Públ. 2011; 45(5): 949-63.
19. Hatamabadi H, Vafaee R, Haddadi M, Abdalvand A, Esnaashari H, Soori H. Epidemiologic study of road traffic injuries by road user type characteristics and road environment in Irán: A community-based approach. Traff Inj Prevent. 2012; 13(1): 61-4.
20. García HI, Vera CY, Zuluaga LM, Gallego YA. Caracterización de personas lesionadas en accidentes de tránsito ocurridos en Medellín y atendidas en un hospital de tercer nivel, 1999-2008. Rev Fac Nal Salud Pub. 2010; 28(2): 105-17.
21. Williams AF. Alcohol-impaired driving and its consequence in the United States: the past 25 years. J Saf Res. 2006; 37(2): 123-38.
22. Lin MR, Kraus JF. A review of risk factors and patterns of motorcycle injuries. Accid Anal Prev. 2009; 41(4): 710-22.
23. Esiyok B, Korkusuz I, Canturk G, Alkan HA, Karaman AG, Hanci IH. Road traffic accidents and disability: A cross-section study from Turkey. Disab Rehabilt. 2005; 27(21): 1333-8.
24. Van Tubergen A, Landewé R, Heuft-Dorenbosch L, Spoorenberg A, van der Heijde D, van der Tempel H, et al. Assessment of disability with the World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule II in patients with ankylosing spondylitis. Ann Rheum Dis. 2003; 62(2): 140-5.
25. Soberg HL, Finset A, Roise O, Bautz-Holter E. The trajectory of physical and mental health from injury to 5 years after multiple trauma: A prospective, longitudinal cohort study. Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2012; 93(5): 765-74.
The copy rights of the articles published in Colombia Médica belong to the Universidad del Valle. The contents of the articles that appear in the Journal are exclusively the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Editorial Committee of the Journal. It is allowed to reproduce the material published in Colombia Médica without prior authorization for non-commercial use
