Injury

Abstract

Background:Kenya\u2019s estimated road traffic injury (RTI) death rate is 27.8/100,000 population, which is 1.5 times the global rate. Some RTI data are collected in Kenya; however, a systematic and integrated surveillance system does not exist. Therefore, we adopted and modified the World Health Organization\u2019s injury surveillance guidelines to pilot a hospital-based RTI surveillance system in Nairobi County, Kenya.Methods:We prospectively documented all RTI cases presenting at two public trauma hospitals in Nairobi County from October 2018\u2013April 2019. RTI cases were defined as injuries involving 651 moving vehicles on public roads. Demographics, injury circumstances, and outcome information were collected using standardized case report forms. The Kampala Trauma Score (KTS) was used to assess injury severity. RTI cases were characterized with descriptive statistics.Results:Of the 1,840 RTI cases reported during the seven-month period, 73.2% were male. The median age was 29.8 years (range 1\u201389 years). Forty percent (n = 740) were taken to the hospital by bystanders. Median time for hospital arrival was 77 min. Pedestrians constituted 54.1% (n = 995) of cases. Of 400 motorcyclists, 48.0% lacked helmets. Similarly, 65.7% of bicyclists (23/35) lacked helmets. Among 386 motor vehicle occupants, 59.6% were not using seat belts (19.9% unknown). Seven percent of cases (n = 129) reported alcohol use (49.0% unknown), and 8.8% (n = 161) reported mobile phone use (59.7% unknown). Eleven percent of cases (n = 199) were severely injured (KTS <11), and 220 died.Conclusion:We demonstrated feasibility of a hospital-based RTI surveillance system in Nairobi County. Integrating information from crash scenes and hospitals can guide prevention.CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States