Abstract
Background Kazakhstan is among the countries with the highest incidence of road traffic accidents in the WHO European Region. The number of victims of motor vehicle collisions among elderly is increasing. However, more detailed information on road traffic injuries is almost non-existent. Objectives. To basic characteristics of the victims of the road traffic accidents among the elderly in the city of Semey, Eastern Kazakhstan using the data from the municipal emergency hospital and Medical Center of Semey State Medical University. Methods A descriptive study using the data on all from the medical records. Basic socio-demographic characteristics of the victims aged 60 years and older of road traffic accidents that occurred in Semey in 2006-2010 were studied. Continuous data are presented as medians and quartiles. Categorical data are presented as percentages. Gender differences between duration of hospital stay were tested using Mann-Whitney test. Results Altogether, 109 new cases of road traffic injuries occurred in the city of Semey during the study period. The age of elderly victims ranged from 60 to 92 years. Men constituted 53% of all cases. Average age of men (Md = 68, Q1 = 65, Q3 = 72) and average age of women (Md = 68, Q1 = 62, Q3 = 73) were similar. The majority of road traffic victims were pedestrians, accounting for 55% of the victims. There were also 1.8% cyclist road traffic accident victims. Multiple traumas were more common than single traumas. Mean age of elderly with a multiple trauma was higher than mean age of elderly with a single trauma. In general, head and extremity injuries constituted the majority of the injuries. Lower extremity injuries were more common than injuries of upper extremities. Number of days spent in a hospital ranged from 2 to 93 days. No difference between the duration of hospital stay between genders was observed (U = 1386, Z = -0.565, p = 0.572) Conclusions Men constitute the majority of road traffic victims in the studied age group. More traumas occur among pedestrians than among drivers. Multiple traumas are more common than single trauma among elderly. More results of the study will be presented and discussed. Further research on factors associated with road traffic injuries in Kazakhstan is needed. Key message Preliminary suggest suggest that men consitute most of the victims and multipla traumas are more common among pedestrians.