Epidemiological Study of Deaths and Injuries Caused by Road Traffic Accidents in Children and Adolescents under 15 Years Old in Mashhad in 2016

Road Traffic Accidents around the world cause about 1.2 million deaths each year. Also, injuries and disabilities of 20 to 50 million people are estimated annually. According to UNICEF reports Road Traffic accidents are the second leading cause of death for people between the ages of 5 and 25. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the epidemiological indicators of mortality and road traffic injuries in children and adolescents under the age of 15 years old in Mashhad.

This is a Cross-sectional-analytical study and was done cross-sectionally. In this study, all traumatic injuries victims of Mashhad city in 2016, who referred to City Hospitals were investigated and was used by Ferdows Organization of Mashhad to collect death data. This study was a survey-based study and lacked sampling.

The findings of this study showed that the total number of children died in Road traffic accidents in 2016 was 72, of which 45 (62.5%) were male and 27 (37.5%) were female. The total number of injured children was 4298, of which 2814 (65%) were male and 1484 (35%) were female. The incidence of lesions in males and females and in both genders was 740.5, 412, and 581 per 100,000, respectively.

Our study shows that most of the deaths were due to car occupants, and this shows the importance of using seat belts and child seats. In the case of pedestrian deaths, there also seems to be an urgent need for Culture building for drivers and educate children in this area.