@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 1027-1457    Scientific Journal of Forensic Medicine 2020;26(4):227-232

Background
Injuries and deaths due to road traffic accidents are increasing day by day; according to the World Health Organization, 1.3 million people in the world die every year due to these accidents, and another 20 to 50 million people are injured [1].
Previous Studies
…[2]. More than 90% of deaths due to traffic accidents occur in low- and middle-income countries in Africa and the eastern Mediterranean region [3-5]. Iran is one of the countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region. ...[6-8]. According to published reports, motorcyclists are 34% more likely to die in road accidents than occupants of other vehicles, and most motorcycle accidents (90%) lead to serious injury or death [9, 10]. …[11]. According to research conducted worldwide, the highest rate of motorcycle accidents has been in adolescents and young people. Therefore, more attention has been paid to this type of accident due to the loss of the active population of each country and severe economic damage [12].
Aim(s)
This study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of fatal traffic accidents in Iranian motorcyclists.
Research type
This study is a cross-sectional descriptive study.
Research society, place and time
In this study, information about deaths from motorcycle accidents in Iran in 2017, which the Forensic Medicine Organization of Iran collected, was examined.
Sampling method and number
The information on 3862 accidents was reviewed.
Used devices&materials
Data were extracted using a checklist including demographic variables (gender, age, marital status, education, and occupation), accident location, place of death, deceased status, the final cause of death, the type of car that crashed into a motorcycle, accident-prone province. GraphPad Prism 8 and SPSS 25 were used for data analysis. Data were compared using one-way ANOVA and independent T-test.
Findings by Text
In total, 3862 fatal motorcycle accidents occurred in 2017 (23.8% of all fatal traffic accidents). 95.9% (n=3704) and 4.1% (n=158) of victims were male and female, respectively. In terms of age, the highest mortality rate (27.8%) belonged to the age group of 18 to 24 years (1071 people), and the lowest rate (1.7%) belonged to the age group 10 years and less (64 people) (Figure 1). Of the total deaths, 1954 (50.6%) were married, and 1875 (48.6%) were single. The highest mortality rate due to motorcycle and other vehicle accidents were observed in Fars (8.9%), Tehran (7.6%), and Khorasan Razavi (7%) provinces, respectively. Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad, Ardabil, and Ilam provinces had the lowest mortality rates with 1.1%, 0.96%, and 0.94%, respectively (Figure 2).In this study, the most important cause of death in motorcycle accidents was head trauma (53.6%), and after that, multiple fractures (21.1%) and common causes (13.7%) were assigned to the next ranks (Table 1). Examination of the type of vehicle involved in motorcycle accidents showed that most cases were related to riding (40.9%), heavy vehicles (12.3%), and motorcycles (10.3%). Examination of the type of vehicle in an accident with a motorcycle showed that most cases were related to passenger cars (40.9%), heavy vehicles (12.3%), and motorcycles (10.3%). In terms of education level, the share of motorcyclists with diploma education and high school (92.4%) in accidents was higher (p<0.001). Also, the highest rate of death in motorcycle accidents was related to self-employed people (39.7%), and the lowest rate was related to the military (0.47%) (Figure 3).
Main comparison to the similar studies
Today, a large part of the problems of developing countries is the increasing number of deaths due to injuries caused by motorcycle accidents [13]. This study aimed to determine the epidemiology of traffic accidents in Iranian motorcyclists in 2017. This study showed that the death rate due to motorcycle accidents in men was 23.3 times higher than in women. In a study conducted in the United Arab Emirates, the ratio of male to female casualties in motorcycle accidents was 46.5 to 1 [14], and in studies in Brazil and Barcelona, it was 4.8 to 1 [15] and 1.6 to 1, respectively [16]. In this study, the highest frequency of victims of motorcycle accidents was related to the age group of 18-24. Numerous reports from Iran and other countries also confirm that the youth age group has the highest number of deaths in traffic accidents. In a study by Viera et al. conducted in Brazil, the average age of injured motorcyclists was 27.78 years [15]. According to a study by Hack et al. in Singapore, most of the injured were in the 16-25 age group [17]. In a study conducted by Pourhaji et al. in Sabzevar, most motorcycle accidents occurred in the age group of 18-23 years [18]. It was found that there is an inverse relationship between the number of victims of motorcycle accidents and the level of education. Therefore, the education level of most of the victims was diplomas and high school, and people with university education had the lowest frequency. In Abedi et al. in Urmia, 92.5% of motorcycle accidents occurred in illiterate people [21]. In the study conducted by Montazer et al. in Sari, an inverse relationship was observed between education and motorcycle-related traffic accidents [22]. ...[23]. In the present study, motorcyclists, due to their lower level of literacy, also had lower social status in the occupation, consistent with studies conducted by Sadeghi et al. in East Azerbaijan and Torabi et al. in Khorramabad [24, 25]. In this study, it was found that most of the blows were inflicted on the head area of motorcyclists. In a study by Hafni et al. in the UAE, 41% of motorcycle accident victims died because of head trauma [14]. In Solgber et al. in Nigeria, about 63.4% of the death was due to head trauma and neck injuries [26]. In the present study, in addition to motorcycle drivers, who constitute 78.4% of the population of motorcycle accident deaths, pillion riders also constitute 20.3% of this population. The main mechanism of fatal accidents in this study was the collision of motorcycles with moving vehicles, especially passenger cars, which is consistent with the results of studies by Zargar et al. In Tehran and Sadeghi et al. in East Azerbaijan [24, 27]. The highest rate of motorcycle accidents occurred on suburban roads, which is not consistent with the results of the study of Rezazadeh et al. In North Khorasan, which had the highest number of accidents on inner-urban roads [23]. However, it is consistent with Sadeghi et al. in East Azerbaijan, where the highest number of deaths due to motorcycle accidents occurred on suburban routes [24]. Also, in the present study, 6% of the injured died during transfer to the hospital, and 52.7% died in the hospital.
Suggestions
No cases have been suggested by the authors.
Limitations
No cases have been reported by the authors.
Conclusions
Due to motorcycle accidents in Iran on suburban roads and young age groups, the mortality rate is high, and head trauma is the most common cause of death.
Acknowledgments
The authors of the article appreciate and thank the Forensic Medicine Organization of the country for the necessary cooperation and assistance.
Conflict of interest
There is no conflict of interest.
Ethical Permissions
No cases have been reported by the authors.
Funding Sources
No cases have been reported by the authors.

TABLES and CHARTS

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