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. 2021 Nov;6(11):e007296.
doi: 10.1136/bmjgh-2021-007296.

Availability of population-level data sources for tracking the incidence of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes in low-income and middle-income countries

Sudeshna Mitra  1 , Kazuyuki Neki  1 , Leah Watetu Mbugua  1 , Hialy Gutierrez  2 , Leen Bakdash  2 , Mercer Winer  2 , Ramshankar Balasubramaniyan  2 , Jaeda Roberts  2 , Theo Vos  3 , Erin Hamilton  3 , Mohsen Naghavi  3 , James E Harrison  4 , R F Soames Job  1 , Kavi Bhalla  5
Affiliations

Availability of population-level data sources for tracking the incidence of deaths and injuries from road traffic crashes in low-income and middle-income countries

Sudeshna Mitra et al. BMJ Glob Health. 2021 Nov.

Abstract

Introduction: Tracking progress towards Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3·6 of reducing traffic deaths and serious injuries poses a measurement challenge in most low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs) due to large discrepancies between reported official statistics and estimates from global health measurement studies. We assess the extent to which national population censuses and health surveys can fill the information gaps.

Methods: We reviewed questionnaires for nationally representative surveys and censuses conducted since 2000 in LMICs. We identified sources that provide estimates of household ownership of vehicles, incidence of traffic deaths and non-fatal injuries, and prevalence of disability.

Results: We identified 802 data sources from 132 LMICs. Sub-Saharan African countries accounted for 43% of all measurements. The number of measurements since 2000 was high, with 97% of the current global LMIC population having at least one measurement for vehicle ownership, 77% for deaths, 90% for non-fatal injuries and 50% for disability due to traffic injuries. Recent data (since 2010) on traffic injuries were available from far fewer countries (deaths: 21 countries; non-fatal injuries: 62 and disability: 12). However, there were many more countries with recent data on less-specific questions about unintentional or all injuries (deaths: 41 countries, non-fatal: 87, disability: 32).

Conclusion: Traffic injuries are substantially underreported in official statistics of most LMICs. National surveys and censuses provide a viable alternative information source, but despite a large increase in their use to monitor SDGs, traffic injury measurements have not increased. We show that relatively small modifications and additions to questions in forthcoming surveys can provide countries with a way to benchmark their existing surveillance systems and result in a substantial increase in data for tracking road traffic injuries globally.

Keywords: injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Time trend in availability of data sources.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Number of sources that report household ownership of (a) bicycles, (b) motorcycles and (c) cars since 2010.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Number of sources that report deaths due to (A) unintentional or all injuries and (B) road traffic injuries, since 2010.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Estimates of road traffic deaths in Tanzania based on the national census and a national verbal autopsy survey compared with official statistics, and GBD and GSRRS estimates. GBD, Global Burden of Disease; GSRRS, Global Status Reports on Road Safety; SAVVY, Sample Vital Registration with Verbal Autopsy study.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Number of sources that report non-fatal (a) unintentional or all injuries and (b) road traffic injuries, since 2010.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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