Estimating the incidence of road traffic fatalities and injuries in Sri Lanka using multiple data sources

Abstract

We used data from multiple sources to estimate the incidence of fatal and non-fatal road traffic injuries in Sri Lanka in 2005. We validated the accuracy of the data from the national traffic police by comparing with estimates based on national death registration. For estimating the incidence and patterns of non-fatal injuries, we used a nationally represented health survey (World Health Survey), and data on hospital admissions from a rural setting (Galle district). We estimate that in the year 2005, approximately 2300 people died in Sri Lanka due to road traffic crashes, approximately 300,000 were injured in non-fatal crashes and approximately 140,000 received care for their injuries at hospitals. While the road traffic death rate in Sri Lanka is low compared with other low-income countries, it has been steadily rising for several years. Although young adults are at high risk in non-fatal crashes, the elderly have the highest death rate. Pedestrians and bicyclists account for more than half of all road traffic deaths and riders of motorised two-wheelers accounted for an additional 13%. The government of Sri Lanka should act immediately to stop the needless loss of life by implementing the recommendations of the 2004 World Report on Road Traffic Injury Prevention.

National burden of road traffic injuries in Argentina

“…All deaths classified to partially specified categories were proportionately redistributed (prorata) within age-and sex-matched groups to the fully specified categories. This method of handling deaths coded to partially specified causes of death has been commonly used in the GBD study Bhalla & Harrison, 2009;Bhalla, Shahraz, Bartels, & Abraham, 2009;Bhalla et al, 2010;Global Burden of Road Injuries, 2010).…”

“…It is necessary to find an appropriate methodology to make inferences to the country based on the existing discharge data, like those used in Iran, Mexico and Sri Lanka to estimate external causes from the distribution of injuries and improve the proportional age-sex allocation Bhalla, Naghavi, Shahraz, Bartels, & Murray, 2009;Bhalla et al, 2010).…”

Injury modules in national surveys as a source of injury data in low and middle income countries

“…Some multicountry national health surveys funded mainly by international donors—for example, the Demographic and Health Surveys, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, the World Health Surveys (WHS) and the Global School Health Survey (GSHS)—have already included modules on fatal and non-fatal injuries (table 1). Some of the generated data had in fact proved useful, particularly for country efforts to estimate the burden of injury 38 39. However, core modules in regular national health surveys in LMIC funded by international agencies have been driven mainly by internationally agreed targets in areas that have been marked as priority areas in LMIC (eg, childhood nutrition, maternal health and infectious diseases).…”

Medicine: Prevalence and Types of Injuries among Patients treated in Teaching Hospital, Batticaloa

“…While the road traffic death rate in Sri Lanka is low compared with other low-income countries, it has been steadily rising for several years. Although young adults are at high risk in nonfatal crashes, the elderly have the highest death rate (7).…”