Epidemiologic Pattern of Fatal Traffic Injuries among Iranian Drivers; 2004-2010

Background: Due to their specific nature, such as high incidence, high intensity and direct involvement of all mem-bers of society, traffic injuries are of particular importance. Through a mega data, this study investigated the epidemio-logical aspects and depict current situation of road traffic injuries in Iran. Methods: Using legal medicine and traffic police data, deaths from road traffic injuries in men were predicted through determining the most appropriate model for death using time series statistical models; and then most important hu-man factors associated with it in a period of 6 yr in Iran was analyzed using multi-nominal regression model. Results: The frequency of deaths from traffic injuries in the last seven years was 172,834 cases and the number of deaths at the accident scene was 42798 cases, of which 24.24% (41,971 cases) were recorded by the Traffic Police ex-perts. Death rate from traffic injuries has been declined from 38 cases per 100,000 people in 2004 to 31 cases per 100,000 people between 2009 and 2010. Fatigue and sleepiness (AOR=10.36, 95% CI: 8.41-13.3) was the most signifi-cant human risk factors for death outcome in the urban and suburban traffic injuries. According to the predictions, the death rate is about 16488 (CI 95%, 8531-24364) for the year 2012. Conclusion: Despite all measures to prevent such injuries, even fatal injuries have still a high incidence. Intervention in the human risk factors field would be more effective due to their important roles in traffic injuries in Iran.