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Fatal Traffic Injuries Among Children and Adolescents in Three Cities (Capital Budapest, Vilnius, and Tallinn) *
Author(s) -
Törő Klára,
Szilvia Fehér,
György Dunay,
Pauliukevicius Alvydas,
Caplinskiene Marija,
Raudys Romas,
Lepik Delia,
Tuusov Jana,
Vali Marika
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of forensic sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.715
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1556-4029
pISSN - 0022-1198
DOI - 10.1111/j.1556-4029.2010.01674.x
Subject(s) - poison control , occupational safety and health , injury prevention , suicide prevention , human factors and ergonomics , medical emergency , capital city , medicine , forensic engineering , geography , engineering , economic geography , pathology
Motor vehicle accidental injuries are a frequent cause of death among young children and adolescents. The goal of this study was to compare patterns of injury between three capitals (Budapest, Vilnius, and Tallinn). Information on 190 fatal traffic accidents (69 pedestrians, 14 bicyclists, and 107 motor vehicle occupants) between 2002 and 2006 was collected from databases of medico‐legal autopsies. The role of victims in accidents, the location of injuries, cause of death, survival period, and blood alcohol levels were evaluated. One‐hundred and forty‐one (74%) victims had a passive role in traffic as pedestrians, passengers in cars, or public transport. In victims who died at the scene, the rate of head injury was higher than in cases who received medical treatment (odds ratio = 2.58, CI = 1.2–5.55, p = 0.0127). These results underline the importance of postmortem studies to examine the pathomechanism of fatal traffic accidental injuries and to provide information for the prevention of road traffic accidents against children and adolescents.