Prevalence of Road traffic accident and its associated factor among resident of Wolkite Town, South Ethiopia, 2023G.C

Abstract

Background: -, Worldwide, an estimated 1.3 million people die of road traffic accident each year and as many as 50 million get injured. Current and projected trends in motorization indicated that the problem of road traffic accidents was get worse, leading to a global public health crisis. Ethiopia is one of the countries hard hit by Road Traffic Accidents; however, there is limited scientific evidence on magnitude of the problem in certain areas of the nation Objective of the study : to assess the prevalence of Road traffic accidents and its associated factors among residence of Wolkite Town, south Ethiopia, 2023. Method and Materials: Community based cross sectional study was done in Wolkite Town with a total sample size of 378 from March 27 to April 4, 2023. The quantitative data was checked, edited, and entered to Statical program for social science software version 21. The study employed chi-square analysis models. The result is presented using descriptive statistics using tables, graphs and charts. Result: A total of 378 respondents participated in our study with 100% respondent rate. The prevalence of road traffic accident in the town is 56.2%.Among them, 275 (72.8%) were male and the rest 103 (27.2%) were female. Among the participants recruited on data collection, 82(22.1%) of them had previous history of RTA. Concerning the causes of RTA, 162(42.85%) majority of them were caused by over speed followed by 86(22.75%) by poor road condition. The results on interviews showed that the Town has traffic flow and three wheel(bajaj) were most common causes of the accident. It also revealed that the Road and Traffic Office had worked on public education even if it‟s not enough. Conclusion and Recommendation: The study found out that road traffic accident is big problem of the Town and the Town is experiencing it. The most common cause of road traffic accident is over speeding, poor road condition and three wheel (bajaj) are most commonly involved in the accident. Legalizing three wheel (bajaj), public meeting and improving the road condition are among the recommendations given to various groups