Abstract
Objective
To measure annual rates of road traffic injuries (RTI) and to describe the characteristics
of road traffic crashes experienced by children and adolescents in Tanga, Tanzania.
Methods
We conducted a cross-sectional household survey using geospatial population-weighted
sampling in the city of Tanga in northern Tanzania. Data were collected in February
and March of 2022. We report 12-month rates of road traffic crashes and RTI (reported
by adult caregivers) among children and adolescents <18 years of age.
Results
A total of 2,794 adult respondents reported data on 6563 children and adolescents,
among whom, 180 were reported to have experienced road traffic crashes in the past
12 months (crash incidence: 27.4 per 1,000 children, 95%CI 23.5-31.4) and 158 sustained
injuries (RTI incidence: 24.1 per 1000 children, 95%CI 20.4-27.8). Almost a quarter
of RTI (23%) were reported to be major (resulting in ≥30 days of missed activities).
RTI was higher among adolescents (13-17 years) than children <5 years (21.5 vs. 14.1
per 1,000, p=0.039). Few children always or sometimes wore helmets when riding on
motorcycles/motorbikes (12.8%) or wore safety restraints/seat belts in cars or other
vehicles (11.9%).
Conclusion
The high rate of road traffic crashes and RTI observed among children and adolescents
in a medium-sized city in Tanzania underscores the urgent need to improve road safety
and increase use of safety equipment in low resource settings.
Keywords
Abbreviations:
confidence intervals ((CI)), geospatial information system ((GIS)), interquartile range ((IQR)), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys ((MICS)), primary sampling units ((PSU)), road traffic injuries ((RTI)), sub-Saharan Africa ((SSA)), Resource limited setting ((RLS)), World Health Organization ((WHO))To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: November 25, 2022
Accepted:
November 23,
2022
Identification
Copyright
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
