Epidemiologic analysis of 845 cases of pedestrian traffic injuries

BACKGROUND. Pedestrian-vehicle collision is a serious public health problem today in Taiwan, but this issue of pedestrian safety has received relatively little attention. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of pedestrian injury after involvement in a collision. METHODS. An epidemiologic study on 845 traffic accident consecutive victims, managed at Tri-Service General Hospital in 1990, was performed. They were interviewed with a brief questionnaire about demographic data and types of accident including injured site, Injury Severity Score (ISS) and outcome; the latter was obtained by review of medical records and by a telephone survey performed four months after discharge. RESULTS. Results showed a common distribution of injuries for all age groups. Of the 845 patients, 487 were male and 358 were female (sex ratio = 1.4:1). The majority of injuries (84.8%) occurred for pedestrians who were walking on the side of, or crossing, the road. Four hundred and ninety-six victims (58.7%) were treated in the Emergency Department only, while 342 patients (40.5%) were further admitted as inpatients; the remaining 34 patients (4.0%) died in the Emergency Department (0.8%), or as inpatients (3.2%). The study showed fatality rates according to age as follows: 0.5% age 1 to 19, 1.8% age 20 to 39, 4.6% age 40 to 59, 7.5% age 60 or older, with the elderly having the highest pedestrian death rate. Elder pedestrians who were struck by motor vehicles also had the highest fatality rate of all pedestrian injury victims. The percentage of pedestrian injuries is fairly constant from month to month. For time of day, 12 noon and 3 to 5 pm were associated with the most injuries for age 0-19 youths; 4 pm and 10 pm for age 20-59 adults; 8 am and 7 pm for age 60 or older. There was a significant difference of mean ISS between the nonsurvivors (27.8) and the survivors (4.6) (p < 0.01). When nonsurvivors were compared with survivors, among the aged (> 60), high Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS) of head, and high ISS were most common among nonsurvivors (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS. That pedestrians are the least protected participants in traffic. Situations is reflected by a considerable fatality rate among pedestrians. Data from this study should be useful for designing, implementing, and evaluating a targeted pedestrian safety program in Taiwan.