[An epidemiological study of 2,353 patients injured in motor vehicle accidents].
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the clinical conditions of the in-patients with motor-vehicle injury and survey the distribution features of the injuries.


METHODS
The clinical records of 2,353 patients with motor-vehicle injuries who were hospitalized in a hospital in Shaoyang City of Hunan Province, China, within the period from 1997 to 2001, were collected and surveyed. The patients were diagnosed according to International Classification of Diseases-9th Revision (ICD-9) codes and statistical analysis was performed in an attempt to define the injury features of this cohort of patients.


RESULTS
The patients with motor-vehicle injuries took up a fraction 3.16% of the total in-patients treated in this hospital (74,368) within the defined period, with a male to female ratio of 2.37:1.00. Subjects in the age range of 15 to 44 years were most likely to be involved in the accidents (55.9%), and in terms of occupation, farmers who lived outside the urban regions had the highest ratio in the total injured patients (34.0%). In the motor-vehicle accidents, the major injuries occurred in the head, usually with moderate severity when admitted into hospital (69.9%).


CONCLUSIONS
Traffic accident is a crucial public health issue that severely affects the life quality of the wounded. Effective legislation and regulations should therefore be instituted, and relevant health education program be launched to control and prevent the occurrence of these accidents.
Liao
Hong-mei
HM
Department of Hematology, Children's Hospital of Hunan Province, Changsha 410007, China.
Liao
Jian-kun
JK
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations; D012737:Sex Factors