%0 Journal Article
%T Trauma center accessibility for road traffic injuries in Hanoi, Vietnam
%A Takashi Nagata
%A Ayako Takamori
%A Yoshinari Kimura
%A Akio Kimura
%A Makoto Hashizume
%A Shinji Nakahara
%J Journal of Trauma Management & Outcomes
%D 2011
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1752-2897-5-11
%X We performed a cross-sectional study using Hanoi city police reports from 2006 to describe the epidemiology of RTIs occurring in Hanoi city. Additionally, we identified geographic patterns and determined the direct distance from injury sites to trauma centers by applying geographical information system (GIS) software. Factors associated with the accessibility of trauma centers were evaluated by multivariate regression analysis.We mapped 1,271 RTIs in Hanoi city. About 40% of RTIs occurred among people 20-29 years of age. Additionally, 63% of RTIs were motorcycle-associated incidents. Two peak times of injury occurrence were observed: 12 am-4 pm and 8 pm-0 am. "Hot spots" of road traffic injuries/fatalities were identified in the city area and on main highways using Kernel density estimation. Interestingly, RTIs occurring along the two north-south main roads were not within easy access of trauma centers. Further, fatal cases, gender and injury mechanism were significantly associated with the distance between injury location and trauma centers.Geographical patterns of RTIs in Hanoi city differed by gender, time, and injury mechanism; such information may be useful for injury prevention. Specifically, RTIs occurring along the two north-south main roads have lower accessibility to trauma centers, thus an emergency medical service system should be established.In Vietnam, road traffic injuries (RTIs) are becoming a major public health issue [1]. These injuries occur more frequently due to rapid economic growth and motorization in recent years; indeed, the number of road traffic fatalities nationally rose from 4,907 in 1994 to 11,534 in 2005. RTI are the leading cause of death in the 15 - 59 years age group, while RTI is the second in men and the fifth in women most frequent causes of death among the total population [2]. Economic loss also results from RTIs, and is currently estimated at about 855 million US dollars (or 2.45% of Gross Domestic Product) per year [1,3].Poli
%U http://www.traumamanagement.org/content/5/1/11