In-hospital costs of patients following road traffic accidents in Tehran: results from a single trauma registry center

Background: Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5 to 39 and the third-leading cause of death in Iran.Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess in-hospital costs of patients following RTAs and identify associated factors among the patients admitted to Sina Hospital, a collaborating hospital with the National Trauma Registry of Iran (NTRI).Methods: A hospital-based registry study was conducted between September 17, 2016, and April 30, 2022, involving 3245 patients affected by RTAs. Data collection utilized the NTRI minimum dataset. To assess the factors influencing in-hospital costs of RTAs, various statistical analyses were performed, including independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression analysis.Results: The distribution of studied subjects based on sex, age, and road user group revealed that the majority were male (91%), within the working age range of 21-60 years (78.2%), and motorcyclists (55.2%). The mean in-hospital cost per patient following RTAs was 152.3 million Iranian Rial (IRR) ($609.35). In the multiple linear regression analysis, several factors were significantly associated with higher in-hospital costs (ps