| Abstract |
Introduction:
Road traffic accidents are one of the most important public health
issues in the world. Injury caused by a traffi c accident is the leading cause of death in
all age groups with a significant impact on public health expenditure. One of the
highest accident rates in Greece is recorded in Crete.
Purpose:
To investigate and outline the profile of the patients involved i n traffic
accidents in the region of Heraklion, Crete. In particular the factors that cause road
accidents are examined, as well as the type of fractures, the hospitalization cost, the
insurance type and the co morbidity. The study will contribute to the p lanning of a
future intervention to prevent and deal with road accidents in Crete. Methodology:
This is a retrospective archival study of a quantitative and qualitative
nature. It was carried out at the University General Hospital of Heraklion, Crete,
rec ording all the incidents that hospitalized the Orthopedic Clinic during the days
that the hospital was on general duty, and exactly those who had been injured by a
traffic accident in areas of the region of Heraklion and also the transits of patients
carri ed out from the rest of Crete or the southern Aegean with the same cause of
admission. The data concerned the period from March 2018 to August 2018, were
drawn from the hospital files while crossed and enriched by the data collected by
EKAV. At the same ti me was attempted to collect data by the Traffic Department of
Heraklion, Crete. The evaluation and processing of the data was done at the level of
characteristics that complete the patients' profile of hospitalization such as the age,
gender, hospitalizati on costs, etc. Depending on the resulting variables, statistically
and clinically important conclusions were extracted. The check was performed at a
statistical significance level α 5% and confidence interval CI 95%.
Results:
Overall, during the study period from March 2018 to August 2018, 493 cases
were recorded in the Orthopedic Clinic by the Emergency Department as
extraordinary imports. Out of these imports, the 89 incidents related to road
accident injuries. Demographics, sex and age of patients a re described. Men are
more involved into traffic accidents, with an average age of 42.5 years. The monthly
allocation was roughly the same for all months, from March to August. Insurance
types was about to 73.6% of the public provider, 5.7% of the private body and 20.7%
of the uninsured patients. Concerning the characteristics of the traffic accident, the
two wheelers had the highest participation with 66.3%, cars with 38.8% and 3.8%
with pedestrians and cyclists. The highest incidence of injuries occurred by 22.7%
was about fractures in legs and knees, pelvis and spine fractures by 19.3%. Hip and
thigh fractures followed by 14.8%. As caused factors were refered the non use of belt
and helmets and alcohol in driving. Average hospitalization duration ranged f rom 7.6
days to 51 days. The corresponding average cost per patient ranged from 1,907 to
18,025 The largest total cost involved the fract ures of the legs and knee with
52,315 and the s pine and spine fractures with 41,459 The total cost in all three
categories of insurance is approximately 25 26,000 Co morbidity involved
pathological and psychiatric problems too.
Conclusions:
T he percentage of road accidents in Crete remains in a high level.
Highest incidence of injuries refers to legs and knee, pelvic and spinal fractures. Their
hospitalization cost includes larger amounts than equivalent spending in other
European countries, w hich is further strengthened after the increase of uninsured
citizens. Additionally, accompanied illnesses seem to have an impact on road
behavior increasing the risk of a road accident.
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