Introduction: Road Traffic Accidents, are one of the major neglected global health burdens which are predicted to be the 7th leading cause of global deaths by 2030 as per the World Health Organization hence, seem to be one of the major global threats in near future. Most road traffic accidents affect the most vulnerable age groups in developing countries. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of road traffic accidents among patients visiting the Department of Emergency of a tertiary care centre.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among patients visiting the department of emergency of a tertiary care centre from 16 September 2022 to 15 October 2022. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: IRC-DMCRI: 307/079/080). All the road traffic accidents cases recorded in the Emergency Department from 14 April 2021 to 13 April 2022 were taken. Convenience sampling was used. Point estimate and 95% confidence interval were calculated.
Results: Among 29735 patients, the prevalence of road traffic accidents was 1340 (4.50%) (4.26-4.74, 95% Confidence Interval). Among these, 1037 (77.4%) were male and 303 (22.6%) were female. Road traffic accidents among two-wheelers were 1065 (79.48%) followed by pedestrian 703 (52.46%). Mangsir witness the higher number of cases, 137 (13.90%) followed by Kartik, 170 (12.69%).
Conclusions: The prevalence of road traffic accidents was similar to other studies done in similar settings. In our study, young people of highly productive and active age groups were the most common victims.
Keywords: emergencies; prevalence; traffic accidents.