Case-control study of some psychological- social factors predicting injury resulted in hospital admissions due to motorcycle traffic injuries in Tabriz in 2013

Abstract

Case-control study of some psychological – social factors predicting injury resulted in hospital admissions due to motorcycle traffic injuries in Tabriz in 2013 Background and Aim: Road traffic injuries (RTIs) comprise a serious public health problem in the world. Moreover, Road traffic injuries are responsible for 85% of deaths and 90% of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), whereas these countries have only 48% of the world's vehicles. In most LAMICs, much higher proportion of road users are pedestrians, bicyclists and motorcyclists compare with high-income countries and half of fatal road traffic injuries in LMICs occur among motorcyclists. The purpose of this study was to describe the epidemiological patterns of psychological – social factors predicting injury (including adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, riding behaviors and personality traits) resulted in hospital admissions due to motorcycle traffic injuries admitted to the Shohada and Imam Reza university hospitals in Tabriz. Material and methods: A case-control study was carried out on 298 motorcycle traumatic patients along with 151control patients admitted to the Shohada and Imam Reza university hospitals as the two referral specialty centers in East Azarbyjan Province of Iran in 2013. Persian version of the motorcycle riding behavior questionnaire (MRBQ) and Persian Version of Conner's Adult ADHD Rating Scales (the self-report short version) were used to assess the riding behavior and screen for adult attention deficit hyperactivity disorder respectively. Also Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III was used to access personality disorders and psychiatric syndromes. Results: All subjects were male with mean age of 30 years old. About 54.3% of the participants were married and 13% of them had academic education. About 23.4% of the motorcycle riders stated that their motorcycle riding was only for fun purposes. Only one- third of the motorcyclists used helmets and more than two third ofR participants did not have motorcycle riding license. It was found in multivariate analysis ADHD index (subscale D) score, subscales A, academic education level, economic status had protective role to increase the likelihood of motorcycle traffic injuries. But the score based on motorcycle rider behavior, subscales B, purpose of riding, married were found to be associated with motorcycle injuries. Also obsessivecompulsive disorder is the predictor of motorcycle injuries. Conclusion: ADHD and riding behavior scales affect the likelihood of motorcycle traffic injuries independent of other injury indicators such as education, purpose of riding and economic status and obsessive-compulsive was risk factor for motorcycle traffic injuries.