Analysis of Mortality Rate of Road Traffic Accidents and Its Trend in 11 Years in Iran

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are the second cause of death, the first leading cause of years of life lost due to premature mortality, and the most common source of injury in Iran. According to the World Health Organization estimates, Iran located in the countries that have the highest rates from RTAs. The present study aimed to measure road traffic mortality rates and also to depict a view of the trend for a period of 11 years which started from 2006 to 2016.

In this cross‑sectional study, we collect data on all road traffic deaths in Iran between 2006 and 2016 using records from the Legal Medicine Organization. For doing this research, demographic and epidemiological data of the deceased were extracted using a checklist designed by the forensic experts. Content validity of this form was determined by obtaining comments of professors and scholars in the field. Directly standardized mortality rates were calculated. Finally, the information was analyzed by descriptive statistics.

During the 11‑year period of this study, 226,514 people in Iran died from RTAs. The age‑adjusted mortality rate that caused by road traffic decreased from 41.5/100,000 people in 2006 to 20.4 in 2016 during the study period. There were significant differences in mortality rates between males and females and between outside city and inside city roads. The age‑adjusted mortality rate was significantly higher among men than in women. The majority of death has occurred in illiterate young men aged 15–34 years and also in self‑employed people.

During the 2006–2016, mortality from RTAs decreased from 41.5 to 20.4/100,000 populations. This decreasing trend was observed in both sexes and in outside city and inside city roads. However, this reduction trend in the last years of the study is not suitable. These findings highlighted that training programs and harm reduction approaches for reducing the mortality from traffic accident are still needed.