Traffic injury as a medical and sanitary consequence of a man-made emergency in Ukraine. Report one: clinical and epidemiological characteristics

Abstract

Background. Road traffic injuries remain one of the main causes of death in Ukraine even during the war. The Code of Civil Protection of Ukraine (Article 2, Clause 6) recognizes a traffic accident as a type of emergency. The purpose of the study: to form a comprehensive characterization of a traffic injury as a medical and sanitary consequence of a man-made emergency. Materials and methods. Typical territorial formations of Ukraine, namely cities with a population of more than 1,000,000 people, a typical regional center and rural areas, were included in the general research model. These components were chosen in compliance with the law of large numbers, regarding the requirements of typicality and the scope of the study. To meet these requirements, we selected a total of 1,696 victims of road traffic accidents who were included in the research array from the array of 21,000 victims using the random number method, while maintaining the component proportionality criterion. This study was conducted using the methods of epidemiological natural modeling, formal logic, fractal analysis, clinical standardization and medical statistics. Results. The specific weight of men injured in road accidents is 66.86 %, which is twice the number of women injured in road accidents. A significant effect of gender on the survival rate of victims was found: men survive in 88.71 %, and women in 91.99 % of cases. In the general array, majority of patients are persons of the most working age — 21–50 years old (63.33 %). In general, there is a tendency to decrease the specific weight of road accident victims starting from the age of 21, as the age factor increases. The highest rate of survival was recorded in the group of 21–30 years — 93.81 %, and the lowest — in people over 71 years of age — 75.27 %. Pedestrians have the largest specific weight in the total array, almost 40 %, and passengers have the lowest one — 24.65 %. In general, active road users make up 75.35 % of the total number. In the array of drivers who died, the specific weight of men is 90.32 %, and the fatality rate is 5.32 %. At the same time, the mortality rate for women is 3.95 %. The specific gravity of deceased male pedestrians is 70.64 %, while the fatality rate is 18.16 %, and among women this rate is 12.75 %. In all age groups, there is a different nature of the distribution of the negative outcome of traumatic process based on participation in the movement. At the same time, in all age groups, most victims who died are pedestrians. It was found that the age has a significant influence on the occurrence of a fatal outcome in traffic participants, with its greatest influence in victims older than 50 years. Conclusions. The clinical and epidemiological characteristics of victims of road accidents in Ukraine, as a medical and sanitary consequence of a man-made emergency, indicates that road traffic injuries are a significant medical and social problem in our country. This is due to the fact that they predominantly affect the most economically active segment of the population, which contributes significantly to the national product. The clinical and epidemiological characteristics of road traffic injuries in Ukraine have certain aspects, unlike other countries of the world, as a reflection of the peculiarities of life of population in our country. All clinical and epidemiological signs are risk-creating factors for the occurrence of a negative outcome of traumatic process due to the presence of a probable influence on this result and require verification of risks.

Keywords

• traffic accident
• road traffic injury
• clinical and epidemiological characteristics
• victims