Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-28T16:16:05.741Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Seatbelt Use in Qatar in Association with Severe Injuries and Death in the Prehospital Setting

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 June 2012

Marc-David Munk ,
Dora M. Carboneau ,
Muhammed Hardan  and
Faleh Mohamed Ali
Marc-David Munk*
Affiliation:
University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA
Dora M. Carboneau
Affiliation:
Emergency Medical Services, Hamad Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Muhammed Hardan
Affiliation:
Emergency Medical Services, Hamad Corporation, Doha, Qatar
Faleh Mohamed Ali
Affiliation:
Emergency Medical Services, Hamad Corporation, Doha, Qatar
*
University of PittsburghDepartment of Emergency Medicine230 McKee Place, Suite 500Pittsburgh, PA 15213USA E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Introduction:

Road traffic crashes (RTCs) are common in Qatar, and are now considered the third leading cause of mortality. In this study, the safety devices used by the Qatari public at the time of RTCs were assessed and the association between seatbelt use by vehicle occupants involved in RTCs and severe injury/death in the prehospital setting was determined.

Methods:

This study was a retrospective case-control investigation. A Hamad Medical Corporation Emergency Medical Services (EMS) database of RTCs occurring from January 2006 to April 2007 was utilized for this study, providing a total of 5,267 patient records (83.5 % male, 16.5% female, median age = 28 years). Patient demographics, crash characteristics, prehospital assessments, and interventions were identified, and use of safety devices was determined. Univariate analysis including chi-square, Student's t-test, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed as appropriate. “Case” patients are defined as those who had specific, critical prehospital assessments, or who received advanced cardio-respiratory life support measures in the field. Logistic regression modeling was used to predict the probability of a case being unbelted, controlling for confounders.

Results:

Seatbelt use in Qatar was low: 33.9% of males and 32.6% of females wore seatbelts at the time of the RTC. Victims involved in a vehicle rollover crash were less likely to be belted than were those involved in a non-rollover incident (26.2% belted vs. 37.8%; OR = 0.59; 95%CI = 0.50–0.68). Case patients—those with defined critical assessment findings or resuscitation in the field—and control patients were similar in age (30 years vs. 28 years median). Case patients were disproportionately male (89.1% vs. 83.2%; OR = 1.65; 95%CI = 1.01–2.83) and were more likely to be victims of a vehicle rollover crash (44.7% vs. 23.8%; OR = 2.57; 95%CI = 1.84–3.59). Seatbelt use was significantly lower among cases than controls: 19.7% of cases were reported to have worn seatbelts compared to 34.2% of controls (OR = 0.47; 95%CI = 0.31–0.69). This relationship also persisted (OR = 0.51; 95%CI = 0.33–0.76) after controlling for confounders.

Conclusions:

Seatbelt use in Qatar is low. Seatbelts are protective: in the pre-hospital setting unbelted vehicle occupants involved in RTCs were nearly twice as likely to suffer severe injury or death compared to belted patients. Prehospital morbidity and mortality appears to be reduced significantly by the consistent use of seatbelts by the motoring population in Qatar.

Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 23 , Issue 6 , December 2008 , pp. 547 - 552
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2008

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1.Bener, A: The neglected epidemic: Road traffic accidents in a developing country: State of Qatar. Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot 2005;12:45–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2.Bener, A, Al Humoud, SM, Price, P, et al. : The effect of seatbelt legislation on hospital admissions with road traffic injuries in an oil-rich, fast-developing country. Int J Inj Contr Saf Promot 2007;14(2):103–107.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
3.Orsay, EM, Dunne, M, Turnbull, TL, et al. : Prospective study of the effect of safety belts in motor vehicle crashes. Ann Emerg Med 1990;19(3):258–261.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4.Reath, DB, Kirby, J, Lynch, M, et al. : Injury and cost comparison of restrained and unrestrained motor vehicle crash victims. J Trauma 1989;29:1173–1177.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5.Cooper, WE, Salzberg, P: Safety restraint usage in fatal motor vehicle crashes. Accid Anal Prev 1993;25:67–75CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Swierzewski, MJ, Feliciano, DV, Lillis, RP, et al. : Deaths from motor vehicle crashes: Patterns of injury in restrained and unrestrained victims. J Trauma 1994;37:404–407.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Orsay, EM, Turnbull, TL, Dunne, M, et al. : Prospective study of the effect of safety belts on morbidity and health care costs in motor-vehicle accidents. JAMA 1988;260(24):3598–3603.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8.Rutledge, R, Lalor, A, Oller, D, et al. : The cost of not wearing seatbelts: A comparison of outcome in 3,396 patients. Ann Surg 1993;217:122–127.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Kaplan, BH, Cowley, RA: Seatbelt effectiveness and cost of noncompliance among drivers admitted to a trauma center. Am J Emerg Med 1991;9:4–10.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10. El-Sadig M, Sarfraz Alam, M, Carter, AO, et al. : Evaluation of effectiveness of safety seatbelt legislation in the United Arab Emirates. Accid Anal Prev 2004;36(3):399–404.Google Scholar
11.McNarry, AF, Goldhill, DR: Simple bedside assessment of level of consciousness: Comparison of two simple assessment scales with the Glasgow Coma Scale. Anaesthesia 2004;59(1):34–37.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12.Hannan, E: Predicting Inpatient mortality for pediatric trauma patients with blunt injuries: A better alternative. J Pediatric Surgery 2000;35(2):155–159.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
13.Koehler, JJ, Baer, LJ, Malafa, SA, et al. : Prehospital Index: A scoring system for field triage of trauma victims. Ann Emerg Med 1986;15(2):178–182.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
14.Robertson, LS: American Public Health Association estimates of motor vehicle seat belt effectiveness and use: Implications for occupant crash protection. Am J Public Health 1986;66(9):859–864.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Cummings, P: Association of seat belt use with death: a comparison of estimates based on data from police and estimates based on data from trained crash investigators. Injury Prevention 2002;8:338–341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Evans, L: The effectiveness of safety belts in preventing fatalities. Accid Anal Prev 1986;18:229–241.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
17.Bedard, M, Guyatt, GH, Stones, MJ, et al. : The independent contribution of driver, crash, and vehicle characteristics to driver fatalities. Accid Anal Prev 2002;34(6):717–727.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed