title: Neglected increases in rural road traffic mortality in China: findings based on health data from 2005 to 2010.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Recent changes in rural road traffic mortality have not been examined in China although rural residents were reported as having greater risk of road traffic injury than urban residents. We aimed to examine changes in urban and rural road traffic mortality rates between 2005 and 2010 in China.
  
  
  METHODS
  Mortality rates came from the publicly available health data of the Ministry of Health-Vital Registration System that is based on a national representative sample (about 10% of total population), including 41 surveillance points in urban areas (15 large cities and 21 middle/small cities) and 85 surveillance points in rural areas. The causes of deaths were coded using the Tenth International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Linear regression was used to test the statistical significance of changes in mortality rates. We calculated the percent change in rates to quantify the change between 2005 and 2010, which was calculated as regression coefficient * 100 * 5 divided by the rate in 2005.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In rural areas, road traffic mortality increased by 70%, changing from 13.3 per 100,000 population in 2005 to 22.7 per 100,000 population in 2010. In contrast, the road traffic mortality merely increased by 4% in the study time period, rising from 13.1 to 13.9 per 100,000 population in urban areas. Both the increases in road traffic mortality from motor vehicle crashes and from non-motor vehicle crashes were larger in rural areas than in urban areas (106% vs. 4%; 29% vs. 3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The tremendous increase in road traffic mortality in rural areas calls for urgent actions to reduce road traffic injuries to motor vehicle occupants, motorcyclists, bicyclists and pedestrians in in rural areas.
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Health Statistics, School of Public Health, Central South University, Changsha, China. huguoqing009@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yuanxiu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Danping
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Tian
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Xin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Deng
authors.forename: Keita
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mamady
authors.forename: Guoqing
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hu
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000328:Adult; D002423:Cause of Death; D002681:China; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018986:Motor Vehicles; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012424:Rural Population; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014505:Urban Population; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000401:mortality*