Hospital-based surveillance for Road Traffic Injuries (RTIs) in a tertiary care hospital

Road traffic accidents (RTAs) lead to significant mortality, morbidity and economic loss in India. The present study aims to characterize epidemiology of Road traffic injuries (RTIs) with information from multiple data sources and to describe factors associated with RTIs. Patients admitted with RTIs in a tertiary care hospital were included in this cross-sectional observational study. Hospital records, case sheets of RTA victims and interview of the participants with a questionnaire were used for collecting data. Majority (29%) of road traffic accidents occurred between 4pm and 8 pm, with 60% self-fall or skid. Around 23.8% consumed alcohol, 63.3% exceeded speed limit, 85% rescued within 30 minutes, 57% transported to hospital by government ambulance, 30% reached tertiary care directly, 6.5% had reduced GCS score. Young adult male were the major victims of RTAs with speed violation as a common risk behavior. The findings suggest a need for implementation of speed violation detection systems to bring down the occurrence of RTAs.