Clinical Analysis of the 784 Traffic Accident Victims

Choi, Chang Uk; Kim, Hak Hyun; Kim, Yon Il; Jun, Byong Chun; Sung, Ka I

Abstract

A retrospective study has been made of 784 cases of road traffic casualties who were treated at the Soon-Chun-Hyang Hospital between July 1980 and December 1981. This study was conducted to find out the nature and pattern of the traffic accident from the clinical and epidemiological standpoints. In additions, the mode of injury from the road accidents were persued which might help to reduce the misdiagnosis rate. The results obtained were as follows: l. In this survey, male dominated in numbers (casualty rate, 70%). The highest incidence was in the age group between 31-40 year (26.5%). The predominance was found in younger casualties (ages between 21-50 years, 72.1% of all casualties). 2. The large number of casualties followed the rush hours. There was a peak between 10PM to midnight. The explanation for this high incidence during the hours was the hurry-up life due to midnight crufew, pedestrian's carelessness and hurry-scurry, and the negligence of traffic rules, the poor labor conditions and weariness due to drivers long continuous working hours, especially in taxi drivers. The highest seasonal incidence was in October. 3. The high incidences were in drivers and students; the drivers were the commonest victims in car passenger accidents and students were injured by pedestrians accidents respectively. The causes of high risk of injury in drivers were intimately related with their vocational aptitudes, the employment status, the driving attitudes and car maintainances; and in students, their carelessness and emotional instability, unsolved mass transportation system and their negligence of traffic rules were listed as the causative factors. 4. Over 51.8% of all casualties were injured by passenger car accidents, and 21.5% were by truck and other types of special vehicles. 5. Approximately 60% of victims were injuried in the road as pedestrian and other 40% were in the car as passengers. In general, the pedestrian injuries were more serious than those sustained in the car as passengers. 6. About 40% of total pedestrian casualties sustained injury at pedestrian's cross road. 7. About 80%of injured drivers were in the drunken state on arrival, and 20.4% of pedestrians were also heavily drunken. 8. The trauma risk was about twice higher in the front-seated passengers than the rear-seated ones in the car. In buses, the highest incidence was in the passengers seated in the front 1/3 of the seats. 9. Orthopaedic (40.5%) and head injuries (38.2%) were the commonest types of the injuries among the hospitalized casualties; about 35% of total patients had the tibial fractures. 10. Of the 784 cases, 479(61.6%) victims arrived hospital within 30 minutes after accident, and among them only 94 cases (12%) were transported by ambulance from the accident site to the hospital.