Effect of Distance to Trauma Centre, Trauma Centre Level, and Trauma Centre Region on Fatal Injuries among Motorcyclists in Taiwan

Bayu Satria Wiratama, Ping-Ling Chen, Chung-Jen Chao, Ming-Heng Wang, Wafaa Saleh, Hui-An Lin and Chih-Wei Pai
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Bayu Satria Wiratama: Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City 110, Taiwan
Ping-Ling Chen: Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City 110, Taiwan
Chung-Jen Chao: Department of Traffic Science, Central Police University, Kueishan District, Taoyuan City 33304, Taiwan
Ming-Heng Wang: Department of Traffic Management, Taiwan Police College, Taipei City 110, Taiwan
Wafaa Saleh: Transport Research Institute, Edinburgh Napier University, Edinburgh EH11 4DY, UK
Hui-An Lin: Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City 110, Taiwan
Chih-Wei Pai: Graduate Institute of Injury Prevention and Control, College of Public Health, Taipei Medical University, Taipei City 110, Taiwan

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 6, 1-15

Abstract: Background: Studies have suggested that trauma centre-related risk factors, such as distance to the nearest trauma hospital, are strong predictors of fatal injuries among motorists. Few studies have used a national dataset to study the effect of trauma centre-related risk factors on fatal injuries among motorists and motorcyclists in a country where traffic is dominated by motorcycles. This study investigated the effect of distance from the nearest trauma hospital on fatal injuries from two-vehicle crashes in Taiwan from 2017 to 2019. Methods: A crash dataset and hospital location dataset were combined. The crash dataset was extracted from the National Taiwan Traffic Crash Dataset from 1 January 2017 through 31 December 2019. The primary exposure in this study was distance to the nearest trauma hospital. This study performed a multiple logistic regression to calculate the adjusted odds ratios (AORs) for fatal injuries. Results: The multivariate logistic regression models indicated that motorcyclists involved in crashes located ?5 km from the nearest trauma hospital and in Eastern Taiwan were approximately five times more likely to sustain fatal injuries (AOR = 5.26; 95% CI: 3.69–7.49). Conclusions: Distance to, level of, and region of the nearest trauma centre are critical risk factors for fatal injuries among motorcyclists but not motorists. To reduce the mortality rate of trauma cases among motorcyclists, interventions should focus on improving access to trauma hospitals.

Keywords: fatal injury; motorcyclist; motorist; traffic crashes; trauma centre (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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