Pediatric road traffic injuries in Qatar: Evidence for a developmental stage approach to road safety

Road traffic injuries are the leading cause of death in Qatar but their epidemiology in children has not been fully described. This paper will describe the epidemiology of pediatric road traffic injuries (pRTIs) in Qatar, in order to understand the relationships among risk factors, mechanisms of injury, use of safety equipment, and according to child developmental stages. The primary sample for this study was drawn from all pRTIs (0–18 years) from January 2010 to December 2012—motor vehicle occupants, passengers and drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, motorcyclists, and all-terrain vehicle (ATV) drivers and passengers—seen at the trauma registry of the Hamad Trauma Center, the national Level I Trauma Referral Center of Qatar. During those two years, the Trauma Center attended to 4864 patients, 443 (9.1%) of whom were pRTIs, 83% were male, and 71% were non-Qatari. Only 1.2% of injured passengers and drivers were restrained. All fatalities were passengers or drivers; the overall mortality rate was 3.4%. The motor vehicle crash (MVC) mortality rate was 6.2%, with the longest mean length of hospital stay 10.5 days and highest Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admission rate 35.7%. Older adolescents (15–18 years) comprised 56.4% of total MVC mortality. One-in-four (25%) pedestrian victims was Qatari. They had the lowest mean Injury Severity Score (9.6); 73% were nine years or younger. ATV victims had a 27% ICU admission rate; 48.4% were 10–14 years old. Older adolescents made up only 17% of the pediatric population of Qatar, yet 40% of pRTI victims and 80% of pRTI deaths. Forty-two percent of injured older adolescents were drivers, with half (21%) of those underage. There are clear and distinct age and mechanism-specific patterns of pRTIs among children in Qatar that must be used to guide road safety policy and program formulation for underage pedestrians and drivers. Proven interventions that increase seatbelt and child restraint use and graduated driver licensing must be considered.