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Retrospective analysis of blunt force trauma associated with fatal road traffic accidents in Cape Town (South Africa) over a two-year period

Road transportation systems are a global developmental achievement. However, with them comes increased morbidity and mortality rates in the form of road traffic accidents. In South Africa, there is a need to characterize road traffic accidents and the injuries associated with them, to determine the...

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Main Author: Majero, T A Tiffany
Other Authors: Mole, Calvin
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology 2019
Subjects:
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access_status_str Open Access
author Majero, T A Tiffany
author2 Mole, Calvin
author_browse Majero, T A Tiffany
Mole, Calvin
author_facet Mole, Calvin
Majero, T A Tiffany
author_sort Majero, T A Tiffany
collection Thesis
description Road transportation systems are a global developmental achievement. However, with them comes increased morbidity and mortality rates in the form of road traffic accidents. In South Africa, there is a need to characterize road traffic accidents and the injuries associated with them, to determine the preventative mechanisms required to reduce their morbidity and mortality rates. A brief review of fatal road traffic accidents from a global perspective is presented, highlighting the current literature surrounding the prevalence, demographics and blunt force trauma injuries associated with road traffic accidents in South Africa. There is limited research regarding the prevalence and characteristics of road traffic accidents. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of fatal road traffic accidents, necessitating the need for research, particularly at the regional level. A retrospective analysis was therefore conducted of all fatal road traffic accident related deaths autopsied at Salt River Mortuary (which services the West Metropole region of Cape Town, South Africa) from January 1st , 2013 to December 31st , 2014. The mean prevalence of road traffic accidents for the reviewed period was 15.9 / 100 000 population. The majority of road traffic accident victims were males who fell in the age group of 30 – 49 years. Over the two-year period, the majority of road traffic accident victims were pedestrians with elevated blood alcohol concentration levels. The head and facial regions of victims commonly exhibited external injuries, while the majority of fractures and organ injury were seen in the head and chest regions. There are limited studies which have investigated the blunt force trauma injuries associated with road traffic accidents in South Africa, and there is a need for further research. Interventions are of paramount importance to decrease fatal road traffic accidents, particularly amongst pedestrians as a road user. This study presents recent data on road traffic accidents for the West Metropole region of Cape Town (South Africa).
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institution University of Cape Town (South Africa)
language eng
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:32:57.328Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
publishDate 2019
publishDateRange 2019
publishDateSort 2019
publisher Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology
publisherStr Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology
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source_str UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository
spelling oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/29580 Retrospective analysis of blunt force trauma associated with fatal road traffic accidents in Cape Town (South Africa) over a two-year period Majero, T A Tiffany Mole, Calvin Biomedical Forensic Science Road transportation systems are a global developmental achievement. However, with them comes increased morbidity and mortality rates in the form of road traffic accidents. In South Africa, there is a need to characterize road traffic accidents and the injuries associated with them, to determine the preventative mechanisms required to reduce their morbidity and mortality rates. A brief review of fatal road traffic accidents from a global perspective is presented, highlighting the current literature surrounding the prevalence, demographics and blunt force trauma injuries associated with road traffic accidents in South Africa. There is limited research regarding the prevalence and characteristics of road traffic accidents. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of fatal road traffic accidents, necessitating the need for research, particularly at the regional level. A retrospective analysis was therefore conducted of all fatal road traffic accident related deaths autopsied at Salt River Mortuary (which services the West Metropole region of Cape Town, South Africa) from January 1st , 2013 to December 31st , 2014. The mean prevalence of road traffic accidents for the reviewed period was 15.9 / 100 000 population. The majority of road traffic accident victims were males who fell in the age group of 30 – 49 years. Over the two-year period, the majority of road traffic accident victims were pedestrians with elevated blood alcohol concentration levels. The head and facial regions of victims commonly exhibited external injuries, while the majority of fractures and organ injury were seen in the head and chest regions. There are limited studies which have investigated the blunt force trauma injuries associated with road traffic accidents in South Africa, and there is a need for further research. Interventions are of paramount importance to decrease fatal road traffic accidents, particularly amongst pedestrians as a road user. This study presents recent data on road traffic accidents for the West Metropole region of Cape Town (South Africa). 2019-02-18T10:03:20Z 2019-02-18T10:03:20Z 2018 2019-02-12T12:51:12Z Master Thesis Masters MPhil http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29580 eng application/pdf Division of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Faculty of Health Sciences University of Cape Town
spellingShingle Biomedical Forensic Science
Majero, T A Tiffany
Retrospective analysis of blunt force trauma associated with fatal road traffic accidents in Cape Town (South Africa) over a two-year period
thesis_degree_str Master's
title Retrospective analysis of blunt force trauma associated with fatal road traffic accidents in Cape Town (South Africa) over a two-year period
title_full Retrospective analysis of blunt force trauma associated with fatal road traffic accidents in Cape Town (South Africa) over a two-year period
title_fullStr Retrospective analysis of blunt force trauma associated with fatal road traffic accidents in Cape Town (South Africa) over a two-year period
title_full_unstemmed Retrospective analysis of blunt force trauma associated with fatal road traffic accidents in Cape Town (South Africa) over a two-year period
title_short Retrospective analysis of blunt force trauma associated with fatal road traffic accidents in Cape Town (South Africa) over a two-year period
title_sort retrospective analysis of blunt force trauma associated with fatal road traffic accidents in cape town south africa over a two year period
topic Biomedical Forensic Science
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29580
work_keys_str_mv AT majerotatiffany retrospectiveanalysisofbluntforcetraumaassociatedwithfatalroadtrafficaccidentsincapetownsouthafricaoveratwoyearperiod