Road Traffic Injuries: Quality Of Pre And Post Hospital Care In Pakistan

Abstract

Background: Road traffic injuries (RTIs) are leading cause of unintentional injuries and death across the globe. Road traffic crashes (RTCs) are neglected public health issue specially in low and middle income countries. Aims: The study aims to investigate risk factors of RTCs and assess quality of pre and post hospital care. Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted in Lahore, Pakistan from July 2022 – December 2022. Randomly selected 300 patients were interviewed using structured questionnaire at four purposively selected major tertiary care hospitals of Lahore. Binary logistic regression was used to find association between risk factors and injury severity (P < 0.05). Results: Data analysis showed that age groups 16–30 years (27%), older than 55 years (27%) comprised substantial proportion. A total of 65% RTCs attributed to human errors/factors. Most road crash victims (88% and 87%, respectively) were not wearing helmets and didn’t hold a valid driver's license. According to injury severity score, 75% of victims had severe injury. Odds of severe injury were more among aged more than 55 years and human error attributed RTCs. There was significant gap between perception and expectation of patients receiving healthcare services (P < 0.05). Conclusion: This is first study in Pakistan that examine quality of pre and post hospital care of RCVs. Significant quality gaps were found in pre and post hospital care of RCVs as per Servqual model that need to be addressed. Serious efforts are required to reduce growing burden of RTCs in Pakistan.