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. 2020 May 19;20(1):722.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-08911-2.

Multiple-scale spatial analysis of paediatric, pedestrian road traffic injuries in a major city in North-Eastern Iran 2015-2019

Hamidreza Shabanikiya  1 , Soheil Hashtarkhani  2 , Robert Bergquist  3 , Nasser Bagheri  4 , Reza VafaeiNejad  5 , Malihe Amiri-Gholanlou  6 , Toktam Akbari  6 , Behzad Kiani  7
Affiliations

Multiple-scale spatial analysis of paediatric, pedestrian road traffic injuries in a major city in North-Eastern Iran 2015-2019

Hamidreza Shabanikiya et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Paediatric, pedestrian road traffic injuries (PPRTIs) constitute a major cause of premature death in Iran. Identification of high-risk areas would be the primary step in designing policy intervention for PPRTI reduction because environmental factors play a significant role in these events. The present study aims to determine high-risk areas for PPRTIs at three different geographical scales, including the grid network, the urban neighbourhood and the street levels in Mashhad, Iran during the period 2015-2019.

Methods: This cross-sectional retrospective study was based on all pedestrian accidents with motor vehicles involving children (less than 18 years of age) between March 2015 and March 2019 in the city of Mashhad, which is the second-most populous city in Iran. The Anselin Local Moran's I statistic and Getis-Ord Gi* were performed to measure spatial autocorrelation and hotspots of PPRTIs at the geographical grid network and neighbourhood level. Furthermore, a spatial buffer analysis was used to classify the streets according to their PPRTI rate.

Results: A total of 7390 PPRTIs (2364 females and 4974 males) were noted during the study period. The children's mean age was 9.7 ± 5.1 years. Out of the total PPRTIs, 43% occurred on or at the sides of the streets, 25 of which labelled high-risk streets. A high-high cluster of PPRTI was discovered in the eastern part of the city, while there was a low-low such cluster in the West. Additionally, in the western part of the city, older children were more likely to become injured, while in the north-eastern and south-eastern parts, younger children were more often the victims.

Conclusions: Spatial analysis of PPRTIs in an urban area was carried out at three different geographical scales: the grid network, the neighbourhood and the street level. The resulting documentation contributes reliable support for the implementation and prioritization of preventive strategies, such as improvement of the high-risk streets and neighbourhoods of the city that should lead to decreasing numbers of PPRTIs.

Keywords: Cluster analysis; Geographical information system; Iran; Paediatric; Pedestrian accident; Road traffic injuries; Spatial analysis.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Geographical distribution of paediatric, pedestrian road traffic injuries in the city of Mashhad, Iran in the period 2015–2019
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Point density map of paediatric, pedestrian road traffic injuries in the city of Mashhad, Iran in the period 2015–2019
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Clustered paediatric, pedestrian road traffic injuries in the city of Mashhad, Iran in the period 2015–2019
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The results of Local Moran’s I statistic of the paediatric, pedestrian road traffic injuries at Mashhad neighbourhood level
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Hotspot analysis of paediatric, pedestrian road traffic injuries by considering age in the city of Mashhad Iran, in the period 2015–2019
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Street risk classification based on paediatric, pedestrian road traffic injuries in the city of Mashhad Iran, in the period 2015–2019
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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