Characteristics, reasons and patterns of Road Traffic Injuries presenting in emergency department of a tertiary care public hospital in Karachi

Objectives: To determine the main characteristics, reasons and patterns of road traffic injuries (RTIs) in a tertiary care public hospital of Karachi.

Methods: It was a hospital based cross sectional study conducted in a public tertiary care hospital emergency department with a sample size 425 selected conveniently. Participants included the consenting victims or caretaking attendants of road traffic injuries (RTIs) from 25th May to 28th June in 2019. A structured questionnaire was developed after literature review and was translated into “Urdu” language. The questionnaire collected detailed information on socio-demographic characteristics, possible reasons of RTI’s such as condition of vehicle, over speeding and breaking traffic rules. Data was analyzed by using software SPSS version 20.

Results: Almost half of RTI victims (43.1%) belonged to the age group 18-29. Majority of the victims were males (86.6%). The most common vehicle involved was motorbike (87.50%) followed by Rickshaw (6.8%) and Car (2.4%). Majority of RTIs occurred on main road (75.30%). The most common sites of injuries were lower limb (64%), upper limb (37.60%) and head (32.2%). The severe injuries were significantly more likely to happen in events in which direct collision with other vehicle/thing was involved, road conditions were wet and pedestrian were crossing the road.

Conclusion: Motorbikes were involved in majority of RTIs. Main reasons of RTIs included irresponsible road behaviors including over-speeding, careless road crossing, breaking the signal and riding on wet roads which lead to moderate to severe injuries in almost two thirds of participants.