PHC-313: Socioeconomic and Health Effects of Road Traffic Injuries

This essay examines the significant socioeconomic and health consequences of road traffic injuries (RTIs) worldwide, highlighting the substantial mortality rate of 1.35 million deaths annually and the associated economic burden of approximately 3% of affected countries' GDP. It emphasizes that RTIs disproportionately affect individuals in poverty, leading to immediate economic hardships for families due to lost income, medical expenses, and legal fees. The adverse health effects include long-term physical and psychological issues for both survivors and their caregivers. Epidemiological data from studies in Australia and low to middle-income countries reveal the prevalence of injuries among cyclists and the effectiveness of legislation in preventing RTIs. Patient-centered approaches and targeted road safety initiatives are crucial for mitigating the health and economic impacts of RTIs, making it a pressing global health and economic concern. Desklib provides a platform to explore such solved assignments and past papers.

Running head: EPIDEMIOLOGY
Epidemiology
Name of the student:
Name of the University:
Author’s note

1EPIDEMIOLOGY
1. Socioeconomic and health effects of road traffic injuries:
The magnitude and the rate at which road traffic injuries are occurring worldwide is one
major health and developmental problems. Review of recent data from the World Health
Organization (2018) shows that 1.35 million people die every year from road traffic crashes
and this cost affected countries about 3% of their gross domestic product. As road traffic
injuries lead to large numbers of disability, high rate of hospitalization and loss of
productivity, it has adverse impact on socioeconomics of a country and health of the
population too. The socioeconomic effect of road traffic injuries is understood from the fact
that people living in poverty are at more risk of such injuries and when earning member of a
family is lost due to road traffic injuries, it has immediate economic effects on the family too.
Apart from loss in earnings, it has additional effect on the family too because of medical bills,
hospitalization cost and legal bills. Adverse health effect is understood from the fact that may
have to suffer from long term health concerns and psychological issues too because of the
injury. Apart from road crash survivors, it leads to psychological effect for immediate
families and caregivers too. Hence, household income and food production is significantly
reduced after a road accident. In case of any disability, road injuries lead to unemployment
and loss of productivity. This ultimately influences the economic prosperity and productivity
of a region (Sehat et al., 2012). Therefore, it can be regarded as a serious problem with wide
health and economic implications.
Two examples of road traffic injuries area include crash between semi trailer truck
and bus and cycling related crashes.
2. Epidemiological data on Road Traffic Injuries and Diseases:
Several studies have also collected data on road traffic injuries and diseases. The research
study by Beck et al. (2017) investigated about trends in the incidence, mortality, health loss

2EPIDEMIOLOGY
and disability associated life years caused by serious road traffic injuries. The
epidemiological study done for Australia revealed that there were about 8066 road traffic
trauma cases in Victoria based on 9 year study. Highest number of injuries was found for
pedal cyclist followed by motor cyclist and pedestrians. The epidemiological data reported
about health loss and cost per patient. The main advantage of such epidemiological data was
that it gave implications for more investment in road safety particularly for pedal cyclists.
This data was important particularly for improving road safety in Australia and increasing
protection for pedal cyclist. . Similarly, such data also exist for other regions too. Staton et al.
(2016) reviewed road traffic injuries in low and middle income countries and analyzed Road
Traffic Injury Prevention Initiatives. This epidemiological study showed that legislation is the
most common intervention that helps in the enforcement of strong initiatives to prevent crash
and injury. It also suggested taking patient centered approach to guide injury prevention and
support for people affected in complex setting. Such epidemiological study favours
identifying new initiatives to promote road safety in different parts of the world.

3EPIDEMIOLOGY
References:
Beck, B., Cameron, P. A., Fitzgerald, M. C., Judson, R. T., Teague, W., Lyons, R. A., &
Gabbe, B. J. (2017). Road safety: serious injuries remain a major unsolved
problem. Medical journal of Australia, 207(6), 244-249.
Sehat, M., Naieni, K. H., Asadi-Lari, M., Foroushani, A. R., & Malek-Afzali, H. (2012).
Socioeconomic Status and Incidence of Traffic Accidents in Metropolitan Tehran: A
Population-based Study. International journal of preventive medicine, 3(3), 181-90.
Staton, C., Vissoci, J., Gong, E., Toomey, N., Wafula, R., Abdelgadir, J., ... & Ratliff, C. D.
(2016). Road traffic injury prevention initiatives: a systematic review and
metasummary of effectiveness in low and middle income countries. PLoS One, 11(1),
e0144971.
World Health Organization (2018). Road Traffic Injuries. Retrieved from:
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/road-traffic-injuries