Incidence of road traffic disabilities trending upwards in transitional China: a retrospective analysis from 1980 to 2005.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the change in incidence rates of road traffic disabilities from 1980 to 2005 in China.


METHODS
We employed the 2006 China National Sample Survey on Disability to derive weighted number of persons with disabilities resulting from road crashes and weighted age-gender-specific population at risk by disability occurrence year. The annual incidence rate of road traffic disabilities and corresponding 95% CI were estimated. We used the World Population Prospects (WPP) and the death rate of people with disabilities (PWD) to estimate potential earlier loss of lives before 2006. Both WPP-adjusted and PWD-adjusted incidence rates of road traffic disabilities were further adjusted using the life table analysis.


RESULTS
The WPP-adjusted incidence rate for road traffic disabilities increased over time from 1.50 (95% CI 1.47 to 1.52) in 1980 to 11.19 (95% CI 11.13 to 11.25) per 100 000 persons in 2005. The PWD-adjusted incidence rate also increased from 1.71 (95% CI 1.68 to 1.73) to 11.51 (95% CI 11.45 to 11.57) per 100 000 persons.


CONCLUSIONS
Road crashes disable thousands of Chinese and remain a significant population health and development problem. The increasing burden of road traffic disabilities calls for more efforts and specific strategies to improve road safety in China.
Institute of Population Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Lan
L
Liu
Institute of Population Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Wei
W
Du
Institute of Population Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Lihua
L
Pang
Institute of Population Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Gong
G
Chen
Institute of Population Research, Peking University, Beijing, China.
Xiaoying
X
Zheng
D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult
Epidemiology; Public Health