Seasonal Pattern in Occurrence and In-hospital fatality rate from Traffic Accidents in Isfahan, Iran

Background and aims: Although accident is the secondary cause of mortality in Iran, information on the occurrence and mortality are not wholly understood. The study aimed to explore seasonal occurrence and mortality pattern of traffic accidents in Isfahan population, Iran. Methods: This study was a cross-sectional. The data on traffic accidents of Isfahan Province was extracted from the Ministry of Health (MOH) database from 2006 to 2011. The data included the number of traffic accidents attributed to motor vehicles, motorcycles and pedestrians. Results: The hospital admission for traffic accidents was highest during the summer and lowest during the autumn. They increased 43.35%, 97.8% and 3.5% during the spring, summer and winter; respectively compared to the autumn. Odds Ratios for death from traffic accident were 1.87 (CI 95% 0.95-1.43)in spring, 1.5 (CI 95% 1.16-1.69) in summer and 1.42 (CI 95% 1.13-1.72) in autumn; for male was 1.37 (CI95% 1.13-1.52) and for age was 1.05 (CI95% 1.03-1.07) and in out of urban-rural 2.45 (CI95% 2.07- 2.83), rural 3.1 (CI95% 2.61-3.61) and for motor vehicles 1.5 (CI95% 1.31-1.75) but for pedestrians was 1.74 (CI95% 1.47-2.06). Conclusion: There is a seasonal variation in occurrence and mortality from traffic accidents. The highest occurrence of traffic accident was during summer, and the lowest rate in autumn. The highest and lowest in hospital mortality rate was observed in summer and winter, respectively. After adjusting the model, the risk of in-hospital mortality was significant for gender, age, season, type of accidents and accident place.