Magnitude and factors associated with Road Traffic Accident visiting the emergency unit of public hospitals in Addis Ababa city administration. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2017.

Abstract

Abstract Back ground: Road traffic accident is main cause of fatality and disability that affects more people aged 5-29 years. Road traffic accident was the fifth causes of deaths in 2030 worldwide. Ethiopia has experienced high rates of road traffic accidents as road is a major means of transportation among the other means. The capacity and quality or standard of roads were the major factors for road traffic accident in the different areas of Addis Ababa. Objective: To assess the magnitude and factors associated to road traffic accident among trauma cases in Government hospitals emergency unit. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Method: Institutional base cross-sectional study design was used. Hospitals were selected by lottery method and samples were selected by distributing based on proportions of Road Traffic Accident cases seen in each hospital emergency unit. Study variables like socio demographic data, substance use, environment and driving behavior were included in the study. The study was conducted September /2017 up to December /2017, and the data was collected from November December 30/2017. The study was conducted in emergency unit of public hospitals in Addis Ababa town. Total of 483 samples were included in the study. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used for analysis of the study Result: The incidence of road traffic accident is 1/ 1000 in a year Similarly, proportion of road traffic accident was assessed by taking total number of trauma and road traffic accident cases in all emergency units of selected hospitals in Addis Ababa, at time of data collection, and the incidence of road traffic accident is 75%, with 95% CI, 70.9% to 78.8%. Conclusion and recommendation: The incidence of road traffic accident was 1/1000 trauma cases in a year. Case fatality rate of road traffic accident was 14 per 1000 RTA cases of which 66 per 1000 sustained permanent disability. Major perceived reasons for the RTA include negligence in recognizing the surrounding during movement, lack of awareness about road traffic accidents and due to absence of pedestrians walk-way. As road traffic accident is high, all governmental and non-governmental bodies should work to provide due attention for RTA issues Key words: - Road traffic accident, emergency unit, Addis Ababa.