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Background: Transport-related injuries (TIs) are a substantial public health concern for all regions of the world. The present study quantified the burden of TIs and deaths in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR) in 2017 by sex and age. Methods: TIs and deaths were estimated by age, sex, country, and year using Cause of Death Ensemble modelling (CODEm) and DisMod-MR 2.1. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs), which quantify the total burden of years lost due to premature death or disability, were also estimated per 100 000 population. All estimates were reported along with their corresponding 95% uncertainty intervals (UIs). Results: In 2017, there were 5.5 million (UI 4.9-6.2) transport-related incident cases in the EMR -- a substantial increase from 1990 (2.8 million; UI 2.5-3.1). The age-standardized incidence rate for the EMR in 2017 was 787 (UI 705.5-876.2) per 100 000, which has not changed significantly since 1990 (-0.9%; UI -4.7 to 3). These rates differed remarkably between countries, such that Oman (1303.9; UI 1167.3-1441.5) and Palestine (486.5; UI 434.5-545.9) had the highest and lowest age-standardized incidence rates per 100 000, respectively. In 2017, there were 185.3 thousand (UI 170.8-200.6) transport-related fatalities in the EMR -- a substantial increase since 1990 (140.4 thousand; UI 118.7-156.9). The age-standardized death rate for the EMR in 2017 was 29.5 (UI 27.1-31.9) per 100 000, which was 30.5% lower than that found in 1990 (42.5; UI 36.8-47.3). In 2017, Somalia (54; UI 30-77.4) and Lebanon (7.1; UI 4.8-8.6) had the highest and lowest age-standardized death rates per 100,000, respectively. The age-standardised DALY rate for the EMR in 2017 was 1,528.8 (UI 1412.5-1651.3) per 100 000, which was 34.4% lower than that found in 1990 (2,331.3; UI 1,993.1-2,589.9). In 2017, the highest DALY rate was found in Pakistan (3 454 121; UI 2 297 890-4 342 908) and the lowest was found in Bahrain (8616; UI 7670-9751). Conclusion: The present study shows that while road traffic has become relatively safer (measured by deaths and DALYs per 100 000 population), the number of transport-related fatalities in the EMR is growing and needs to be addressed urgently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Study provides estimates of deaths, years of life lost (YLL), years of life lived with disability (YLD), and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) due to 249 causes of death, 315 diseases and injuries, and 79 behavioral, environmental, occupational, and metabolic risk factors in 195 countries, territories, and regions by sex and 20 age categories in 195 countries and regions since 1990. In this study, we aimed to present the burden of road traffic injuries (RTIs) in Iran and 15 surrounding countries in 1990-2016. Methods: The standard Cause of Death Ensemble modeling (CODEm) is used to estimate deaths due to all causes of injury by age, sex, country and year. A range of 27 causes is used for estimating non-fatal health outcomes based on inpatient and outpatient datasets using DisMod-MR 2.0. Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) estimate quantify the total burden of years lost due to premature death or disability and was computed by summing the fatal burden and non-fatal burden associated with a cause (i.e., YLL+YLD). Results: In 2016, age-standardized transport injuries in Iran accounted for 35.6 (UI: 29.64-43.44) deaths per 100 000 compared to 60.8 (UI: 51.04-72.49) in 1990. Transport injury became the fourth leading cause of death in Iran in 2016, up from the 5th leading cause of death in 1990. The burden of RTIs was mainly caused by motor vehicles and motorcycles and mostly affected the economically productive age groups (15-49), males and children, especially those at school age. Afghanistan with 59.14 deaths (52.09-66.8) and UAE with 53.71 deaths (36.59-72.77) had the largest transport injury death rates per 100 000. From 1990 to 2016, Iran had -2.06 annual percent change in transport death rates. The lowest annual percent change is reported for Turkmenistan at -3.43. While Pakistan, UAE and Qatar had the highest annual percent change in transport injury. Across all countries, the observed-to-expected ratios for transport injury death rates varied considerably in 2016.The UAE had the largest age-standardized ratios of observed-to-expected rate (2.93), followed by Oman (2.39), Saudi Arabia (2.23), Afghanistan (2.04) and Iran (1.95). Conclusions: RTIs continue to be a public health burden in Iran and its neighboring countries, even though, there is evidence for decline in RTIs across all countries except Pakistan. The most frequent sub-causes of death and injury are the motor vehicle, motorcycle, and pedestrian injuries. The most vulnerable road users are children and young adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]