title: Epidemiology of traffic crash mortality in west of Iran in a 9 year period.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In Iran, the most common cause of injuries and the second leading cause of deaths are traffic accidents, and those problems impose a substantial financial burden on the society. This study aims to determine traffic accident mortality trends and their epidemiologic characteristics in the Kermanshah province, west of Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross sectional study, road traffic fatality data from 2004 to 2013 were analyzed to determine the epidemiological pattern of traffic accident mortality. Trend assessment was performed to ascertain the decreasing or increasing status. Chi-square and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests, as well as Poisson regression were used to determine the significance of the data in time. Data were analyzed using Excel and statistical package of SPSS version 19.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Out of 5110 people that died in traffic accidents, 4024 (78.7%) were males. The state of accidents indicated that 404 (43.8%) female pedestrians died as a result of car crashes, and 1330 (41.4%) males died because of car collisions. 1554 (31.9%) deaths happened to pedestrians and 1556 (32.1%) to vehicle drivers, and the rest belonged to vehicle passengers. Head trauma was the cause of death for as much as 3400 (69.9%) cases. Fatal crashes in which pedestrians were involved mostly occurred between the hours 13:00 to 15:00, while the time for vehicle drivers was between 16:00 to 18:00. 2882 people (59.1%) died before reaching to health care facilities. Traffic crash mortality trend for pedestrians follows a linear pattern with a gentle downward slope, but the trend shows various swings when it comes to vehicle drivers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The number of traffic crash deaths from 2004 to 2013 indicates a decreasing trend in two groups of road users: vehicle drivers and car occupants. This can be due to some interventions such as modification of traffic rules and enhancement of police control which has been implemented in recent years. Moreover, more attention should be paid to promote the optimal health care services to save the lives of the injured from traffic accidents.
authors.affiliation: Research Center for Environmental Determinacies of Health, School of Health, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
authors.forename: Behrooz
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hamzeh
authors.forename: Farid
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Karamimatin
authors.forename: Tuoraj
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ahmadijouybari
authors.forename: Aresh
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salari
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Moradinazar
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001336:Automobiles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002423:Cause of Death; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009049:Motorcycles / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D000069636:Pedestrians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D016019:Survival Analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D055815:Young Adult