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Comparison of traffic collision victims between older and younger drivers in South Korea: Epidemiologic characteristics, risk factors and types of collisions.
- Source :
- PLoS ONE; 4/9/2019, Vol. 14 Issue 4, p1-14, 14p
- Publication Year :
- 2019
-
Abstract
- Objective: This study aimed to show the epidemiological characteristics and the difference in the risk factors and types of collision between older and younger drivers in Korea. Methods: We collected data from the Emergency Department-based Injury In-depth Surveillance retrieved by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2011 to 2015. We included injured drivers aged ≥ 18 years who were registered in the database, who were limited to drivers of four-wheeled vehicles. The enrolled patients were divided according to age into older (≥ 65 years) and younger (< 65 years) drivers. The total number of enrolled drivers was 37,511; 2,361 (6.3%) of them were older drivers. The epidemiological characteristics (e.g., age, sex, fatality rate) of traffic collision victims for 5 years were determined, and the risk factors (e.g., seat belt use) and types of collision (single- vs. multi-vehicle) between the two groups were compared. Results: The median age and interquartile range (IQR; 25<superscript>th</superscript> and 75<superscript>th</superscript> percentiles) of all drivers were 41.0 (IQR, 32.0–52.0), and 24,544 (65.4%) of them were men. The median age increased from 40.0 (IQR, 31.0–50.0) to 43.0 (IQR, 33.0–54.0) between 2010 and 2015 (P < 0.001). The proportion of older drivers increased from 5.0% to 8.4% annually during the study period (P < 0.001). Between 2010 and 2015, the fatality rate decreased from 3.1% to 1.2% (P = 0.287) for older drivers and from 0.9% to 0.5% (P = 0.009) for younger drivers. The proportion of single-vehicle collision (25.9% vs. 20.3%) was higher in older than in younger drivers (P < 0.001). Older drivers had a lower rate of seat-belt use than younger drivers (79.0% vs. 83.0%, P < 0.001). Conclusions: The proportion of older drivers increased annually during the study period, and older drivers experienced more single-vehicle collision and used seat belt less frequently than younger drivers. A national policy support to reduce traffic collision in older drivers and public relation activities to enhance their seat belt use should be strengthened in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Subjects :
- OLDER automobile drivers
DISEASE risk factors
HEALTH facilities
SEAT belts
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 19326203
- Volume :
- 14
- Issue :
- 4
- Database :
- Complementary Index
- Journal :
- PLoS ONE
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 135808142
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0214205