An Epidemiologic Study of Deceased Pedestrians in Road Traffic Accidents in Iran during 2012–2013

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Department of Public Health, Torbat Jam Faculty of Medical Sciences, Torbat‑e Jam,

2 Department of Epidemiology, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

3 Department of Community Medicine, Golestan University of Medical Sciences, Gorgan

4 Department of Forensic Medicine, Forensic Medicine Organization

5 Department of Epidemiology, Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Research Center, School of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

10.4103/atr.atr_57_17

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Due to the high rate of pedestrian deaths in traffic accidents and given that describing demographic profiles
of pedestrian deaths and features of accident locations is an important factor in the prevention, management, and analysis of road traffic
accidents, this study aimed at describing the demographic and personal patterns as well as environmental factors affecting the occurrence of
road traffic accidents among pedestrians in Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross‑sectional study was conducted on all pedestrian deaths
caused by traffic accidents referred to the Forensic Medicine Organization in Iran from March 20, 2012, to March 19, 2013. In this study,
demographic information as well as the information related to the accidents and other information including trauma location, the final cause
of death, date of accident, date of death, time of death, and time of accident were examined. The information received from the Forensic
Medicine Organization was first controlled and then analyzed using the Stata 11 software. Results: From a total of 4371 pedestrians died in
2012 due to traffic accidents, 3201 cases (73.2%) were males with a mean age of 48.1 ± 0.46 years, and 1170 cases (23.8%) were females
with the mean age of 46.1 ± 0.77 years. In terms of age, education, and marital status, the highest frequencies of pedestrian deaths were,
respectively, observed in the age group 65 years old and above (33.4%), the illiterate group (44.5%), and married people (67.9%). The highest
and the lowest incidence rates of death were seen in Gilan (11 per 1000 people) and South Khorasan Provinces (2.4 per 100,000), respectively.
Conclusions: Pedestrians as the most vulnerable people in traffic accidents comprise a large proportion of deaths and disabilities caused by
road traffic accidents. It seems necessary to take some measures including paying special attention to physiological characteristics of the age
group above 65 years old, doing close monitoring by the traffic police in October and the rush hours, and providing facilities for pedestrians
to cross in busy locations of suburban areas.

Keywords

References

1. Soori H, Hussain SJ, Razzak JA. Road safety in the Eastern
Mediterranean Region – Findings from the global road safety status
report. East Mediterr Health J 2011;17:770‑6.
2. World Health Organization. The Global Burden of Disease. 2004
Update. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2004.
3. World Health Organization. 10 Facts on Global Road Safety. World
Health Organization; 2013. Available from: http://www.who.int/
features/factfiles/roadsafety/en/. [Last accessed on 2013 Mar 21].
4. Tefft BC. Impact speed and a pedestrian’s risk of severe injury or death.
Accid Anal Prev 2013;50:871‑8.
5. Gorgin L, Salarilak S, Khorasani D, Ahmadi N. Demographic
characteristics of Kurdistan Province pedestrians died from traffic
injuries 88‑83 years. J Legal Med 2011;17:183‑8.
6. Bahadorimonfared A, Soori H, Mehrabi Y, Delpisheh A, Esmaili A,
Salehi M, et al. Trends of fatal road traffic injuries in Iran (2004‑2011).
PLoS One 2013;8:e65198.
7. Pakgohar A, Tabrizi RS, Khalili M, Esmaeili A. The role of human
factor in incidence and severity of road crashes based on the CART
and LR regression: A data mining approach. Procedia Comput Sci
2011;3:764‑9.
8. Naci H, Chisholm D, Baker TD. Distribution of road traffic deaths by
road user group: A global comparison. Inj Prev 2009;15:55‑9.
9. World Health Organization. Pedestrian Safety: Aroad Safety Manual
for Decision‑Makers and Practitioners. World Health Organization.
Available from: http//:www.who.int/roadsafety/projects/manuals/
pedestrian/en/. [Last accessed on 2013 Jul 09].
10. World Health Organization. Country Profiles 2013. Iran: World Health
Organization; 2013. Available from: http://www.who.int/violence_
injury_prevention/road_safety_status/2013/country_profiles/en/. [Last
accessed on 2013 Jul 09].
11. Luoma J, Peltola H. Does facing traffic improve pedestrian safety?
Accid Anal Prev 2013;50:1207‑10.
12. Moharamzad Y, Taghipour H, Hodjati Firoozabadi N,
Hodjati Firoozabadi A, Hashemzadeh M, Mirjalili M, et al. Mortality
pattern according to autopsy findings among traffic accident victims in
Yazd, Iran. Chin J Traumatol 2008;11:329‑34.
13. Moradi SE, Taleghani N. An epidemiologic survey of pedestrians
passed away in traffic accident. Scientific Journal of Forensic Medicine
2003;9:57-81.
14. Iranian Legal Medical Organization. Available from: http://www.lmo.
ir/index.aspx?fkeyid=&siteid=&pageid=2370. [Last accessed on 2017
Dec 12].
15. Sefiddashti SE, Arab M, Ghazanfari S, Kazemi Z, Rezaei S, Karyani AK,
et al. Trends of geographic inequalities in the distribution of human
resources in healthcare system: The case of Iran. Electron Physician
2016;8:2607‑13.
16. Eberhardt L. Population projections from simple models. J Appl Ecol
1987;24:103‑18.
17. Szklo M, Nieto J. Epidemiology: Beyond the Basics. Burlington, VT:
Jones and Bartlett Learning; 2014.
18. Gordis L. Epidemiology. 5th ed. USA: Elsevier; 2014. p. 218.
19. Beck LF, Paulozzi LJ, Davidson SC. Pedestrian fatalities, atlanta
metropolitan statistical area and United States, 2000‑2004. J Safety Res
2007;38:613‑6.
20. World Health Organization. Available from: http://www.who.int/
mediacentre/factsheets/fs358/en/. [Last accessed on 2014 May 09].
21. Zegeer CV, Bushell M. Pedestrian crash trends and potential
countermeasures from around the world. Accid Anal Prev 2012;44:3‑11.
22. Peymani P, Heydari ST, Hoseinzadeh A, Sarikhani Y, Hedjazi A,
Zarenezhad M, et al. Epidemiological characteristics of fatal pedestrian
accidents in fars province of Iran: A community‑based survey. Chin J
Traumatol 2012;15:279‑83.
23. Roudsari BS, Mock CN, Kaufman R, Grossman D, Henary BY,
Crandall J, et al. Pedestrian crashes: Higher injury severity and mortality 
rate for light truck vehicles compared with passenger vehicles. Inj Prev
2004;10:154‑8.
24. Harruff RC, Avery A, Alter‑Pandya AS. Analysis of circumstances
and injuries in 217 pedestrian traffic fatalities. Accid Anal Prev
1998;30:11‑20.
25. Zadvalikhajeh S, Zadvali F. Survey of effective factors in pedestrian
accidents in the city of Orumiyeh. Rahvar 2013;27:27-50.
26. Sadeghi Bazargani H, Salarilak S. A survey on epidemiological and
demographic aspects of pedestrian road accident victims in Shohada
referral university hospital, East Azerbaijan province. Urmia Med J
2014;25:540‑60.
27. Ghafari Fam S, Sadeghi Bazargani H, Salarilak S. A survey on
epidemiological and demographic aspects of pedestrian road accident
victims in Shohada referral university hospital, East Azerbaijan
Province. Urmia Med J 2014;25:540‑60.
28. Lankarani KB, Heydari ST, Aghabeigi MR, Moafian G, Hoseinzadeh A,
Vossoughi M, et al. The impact of environmental factors on traffic
accidents in Iran. J Inj Violence Res 2014;6:64‑71.
29. Paulozzi LJ. United States pedestrian fatali`ty rates by vehicle type. Inj
Prev 2005;11:232‑6.
30. Atkins RM, Turner WH, Duthie RB, Wilde BR. Injuries to pedestrians
in road traffic accidents. BMJ 1988;297:1431‑4.

Files

History

  • Receive Date: 20 May 2017
  • Accept Date: 20 May 2017

Share

How to cite

Statistics