Examination of morbidity and mortality of cases according to intra-vehicle position and accident mechanism.

Background: Traffic accidents are still an important public health issue in our country and intra-vehicle accidents cause substantial morbidity and mortality. In this study, we aimed to investigate the effect of seating position on morbidity and mortality in traffic accidents.

Methods: Patients who were admitted to the Emergency Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ege University between May 1, 2014 and November 30, 2014 due to injuries in motor vehicles and who signed informed consent were included.

Results: In total, 519 cases were included, and 329 (63.4%) were male and 190 (36.6%) were female. The average age was 33.11±16.86 (range, 0-85) years. It was noted that the accidents most frequently occurred between 18.00 and 23.59 (36.3%) hours, in the car (79%), and due to collision with another car (61.7%). Although 39.5% of the injured individuals were drivers, 26.4% were front seat passengers. From a forensic medicine perspective, life-threatening injuries were approximately twice more common (37.5%-13.6%) in accidents with >110 km/h speed compared with accidents with <110 km/h speed. Accidents with >110 km/h speed caused approximately twice the amount (56.3%-26.3%) of injuries that cannot be resolved with simple medical intervention compared with accidents with <110 km/h speed.

Conclusion: Since most people who are injured or die in traffic accidents have an active professional life, significant rehabilitation expenditure and labor loss occur along with diagnosis and treatment costs. Our study and similar studies not only show the effectiveness of the measures taken but also provide an insight into changing injury profiles and precautions to prevent them.