Characteristics of deaths caused by traffic accidents in Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan, 2014–2018

PurposeTo understand the epidemiological characteristics of traffic accident-caused deaths in Dali Bai autonomous prefecture of Yunnan province from 2014 to 2018 and provide a reference for the prevention and control of traffic accidents.

MethodThe surveillance data of Dali residents who died of traffic accidents from 2014 to 2018 were collected and encoded according to International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Excel 2010 and software SPSS 19.0 were used for statistical analysis. The 2010 national census data were used for data standardization. The crude mortality rate, standardized mortality rate, death constituent ratio were calculated.

ResultThe cumulative number of reported traffic accident-caused deaths was 3 079 in Dali from 2014 to 2018, with an average crude mortality rate of 17.25/100 000 and a standardized mortality rate of 17.75/100 000, the annual mortality rate showed a decrease trend. The age of most death cases ranged from 15 years to 60 years, accounting for 85.00% of total deaths. The incidences of traffic accident-caused deaths were higher in January and February. The top three causes of deaths were waking on roads (45.53%), riding motorcycles (27.83%) and driving or taking cars (9.03%). The first three types account for 82.40% of the total traffic accidents. The mortality rate of walking and motorcycle accidents showed downward trend from 2014 to 2018.

ConclusionTraffic accident is one of the factors that seriously threaten the people′s life and safety in Dali, but the death level caused by traffic accidents showed downward trend. However, due to increase of all kinds of vehicles, it is necessary to further strengthen the comprehensive prevention and control of traffic accidents.