Khosravi Shadmani F¹ (MSc Student), Soori H² * (MPH, PhD), Ainy E² (PhD Student), Zayeri F³ (PhD), Mehmandar MR⁴ (PhD Student)

  ¹ Department of Epidemiology, Faculty of Public Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

  ² Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

  ³ Department of BioStatistics, Faculty of Paramedicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran

  ⁴ Rahvar Research Center, NAJA University, Tehran, Iran

  Received: 17 Apr 2012, Accepted: 17 Dec 2012

  Abstract

  Introduction: Environmental factors are among important risk factors in road traffic injuries. This study was conducted to compare road traffic death occurrence within urban and metropolitan roads focusing on environmental factors

  Methods: A descriptive study was carried out using existing data on 8610740 subjects with fatal and nonfatal outcomes. Environmental factors included road defects, light conditions, road surface, weather condition, and type and location of geometric. Data were collected by traffic police. Findings were presented using descriptive statistic and were analyzed using logistic regression test.

  Results: Mean ± SD of age was 34.02 ± 10.61. Majority of subjects were male (91%), 7.1% were women and gender of 1.9% of the subjects were not recorded. The most important factors affecting case fatality traffic accidents within metropolitan were husk slippery road surface (OR= 56.84), driving during sunrise (OR= 5.30), icy roads and snowy weather (OR= 1.82), mountainous region (OR= 4.60), windy and dusty air (OR= 1.97), and straight /uphill /downhill road (OR= 1.26), respectively. The most effective factors within urban areas were the difference between level of suburban pavement and road shoulders (OR= 2.91), driving during sunrise (OR= 2.12), wet road (OR= 1.42), mountainous region (OR= 1.32), foggy weather
(OR= 2.10), and straight /uphill /downhill road (OR= 1.7), respectively.

  Conclusion: Interaction of factors including local geometry, weather conditions, lighting conditions, road surface, and type of region increased severity of road traffic injuries. Policy makers should pay more attention on traffic accidents to plan interventions in order to reduce death rates.

  Key words: road traffic injury, environmental factors, metropolitan, urban roads