Piloting a multidisciplinary and integrated road traffic injury surveillance system in Kaduna Metropolis, Kaduna Nigeria.

Abstract

Background African has the highest road fatality rate per 100,000 population, but Nigeria accounts for a quarter of the World Health Organization Afro region road traffic injury (RTI) related deaths. The Nigeria Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) is the sole agency for RTI surveillance. RTI data generated from a single source is inadequate, under-reported, and defective for effective planning to achieve SDG 3.6 target. This pilot study aimed to describe under-reporting of single RTI surveillance data source by FRSC, and feasibility of multidisciplinary and integrated RTI surveillance systems in Kaduna metropolis, Nigeria. Methods The WHO Injury Surveillance Guideline, and Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Surveillance Training Manual were adapted for this study. Selected RTI reporting sites for this study were FRSC, police, and three major health facilities. Trained data collectors used a pretested RTI data tool adapted from the existing tools to collect information on road traffic crashes and the injured from February – July 2016. Data linked by the deterministic method were merged, duplicates removed, and analysed for frequencies, proportions, and Chi-square odds ratio for associations between exposure variables and moderate to fatal injury. Statistical significance for all calculations was set at p-Value < 0.05. Results Of the 667 road traffic crashes (RTC), FRSC reported 103 (15.4%). Of the 1,062 people injured, FRSC and Police reported 183 (17.2%), and 381 (35.9%) respectively, pedestrians were 180 (17%), and 374 (35.2%) were in 25–34 years age group. Overall, 110 (10.4%) were fatally injured and died including 62.7% (69/110) who were initially rescued alive from the crash site. Among the 252 motorcycle riders, protective helmet was used by 26 (10.3%). Also, 136 (26.4%) vehicle users from 516, used a seat belt during the crash. Moderate to fatal injury was associated with being a vehicle operator during the crash (OR 1.7, C.I. 1.3–2.2, p = 0.000). Conclusion Road traffic crashes and injuries were under-reported with single source RTI surveillance systems common to low and middle – income countries like Nigeria. However, a multidisciplinary and integrated RTI surveillance system is feasible and recommended to generate quality data for action.