1Assoc. Prof, Community Medicine Department, SGRDIMSAR, Amritsar, Punjab
2Prof, Surgery Department, SGRDIMSAR, Amritsar, Punjab
3P.G. Resident, Surgery Department, SGRDIMSAR, Amritsar, Punjab
*Corresponding author: Harpreet Kaur, Community Medicine Department, SGRDIMSAR, Amritsar, Punjab, India. Phone no.: 91-9876151549 Email: gurveer1@gmail.com
Online published on 14 October, 2016.
Road traffic injuries are a growing public health and development problem. Road traffic injuries are predicted to rise from tenth place in 2002 to eighth place by 2030 as a contributor to the global burden of diseases. The road accident situation in India is alarming. So the present study was planned to ascertain the pattern of injury in road traffic accident victims.
The present cross-sectional study was done at SGRDIMSAR, Hospital, Amritsar. All the road traffic accident victims who reported in the emergency wing of the hospital of SGRDIMSAR, Amritsar from October 2015-December 2015 were included in the study. A pre-designed pre-tested proforma was used to collect information from the accident victims. The statistical analysis was done by using SPSS 20.0 version.
It was observed that there were 209 (92.9%) males and 16 (7.1%) female victims RTA in this study. 36% of victims of RTA belonged to less than 25 years of age, followed by 21.3% in age group of 26–35 years, 24.4% were in age group of 36–45 years, 14.7% were in age group of 14.7% and 3.6% belonged to age group of more than 55 years. Head and neck injuries were observed in 78.7% of victims of RTA. Upper Limb & Lower Limb were involved in 67.1% & 63.1% victims respectively. Maximum number of injuries were involved among drivers of two wheelers.
Maximum accidents in our study were observed to be in younger age group. Maximum injuries (74.2%) were observed in head and neck region in our study. The lack or inappropriate use of helmets has been shown to increase the risk of injuries resulting from road crashes involving motorized two wheelers.
Encouraging a culture of safe road behavior that in turn achieves sustained educations in road traffic injuries requires persistent attention. Sustaining high levels of enforcement and maintaining a high perception of enforcement among the public are essential to the success of such legislative measures. Helmet legislation needs to be supported by strong enforcement and social marketing campaigns.
Injury Pattern, Road Traffic Accidents, Victims, Amritsar
