An Epidemiology Study of Deaths from Road Traffic Accidents, Iran, Ahvaz

Background: Deaths from traffic accidents (RTIs) are a major public health problem in all societies, especially in the low and middle-income countries; the present study was conducted to investigate the epidemiology of fatal road traffic accidents in Ahvaz city. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study which included all deaths from RTIs in Ahvaz province (Southwest Iran) admitted to forensic medicine during 2015-2016. ICD-10 was used as diagnostic criteria. Demographic variables as well as injury circumstance )name, surname, phone number, age, sex, season, month, day, accident location, vehicle type, status of the injured person( were recorded by trained research team in forensic medicine. Descriptive data are reported. SPSS 20 software was used for analysis of data. Results: During years 2015-2016, a total of 50 deaths occurred due to road accidents in Ahvaz province. The mean age was 34.99±19.98 years. The mortality rate was higher in men (79.4%), married subjects (57.4%), illiterate ones (26.2%), self-employed subjects (34.6%) and residents of urban areas (78.8%). There were statistically significant relationships between the accident location and the place of death, and between the trauma spot and the cause of death (P <0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that most of the deceased were male, married and young, so preventive measures such as precise traffic surveillance and enforcement of the regulations for safe driving are considered essential.