@article{ref1,
title="Epidemiological characteristics of road traffic injuries involving children in three Central American countries, 2012-2015",
journal="International journal of environmental research and public health",
year="2021",
author="Nuñez-Samudio, Virginia and Mayorga-Marín, Francisco and López Castillo, Humberto and Landires, Ivan",
volume="18",
number="1",
pages="e37-e37",
abstract="Although motor vehicle collisions (MVCs) are a worldwide public health concern due to their high injury, mortality, and fatality rates, few studies have addressed the  epidemiologic behavior of MVCs in Latin American youth. Thus, this study was aimed  at describing and comparing the characteristics of MVCs involving 0 to 14-year-olds  in Costa Rica, Guatemala, and Panama. A secondary aim was to estimate the crude  MVC-related injury, fatality, and mortality rates and their trends over time. We  conducted a descriptive, retrospective study using publicly available data for Costa  Rica, Panama, and Guatemala between 2012 and 2015. We examined the reported MVC  cases and calculated the crude injury, fatality, and mortality rates and their  trends over time (α = 0.05). Publicly available data reported 12,020 MVC-related  injuries and 431 MVC-related deaths involving 0 to 14-year-olds. The most frequent  mechanisms involved 0 to 14-year-olds as passengers or pedestrians in MVCs (>85% of  all cases). The highest crude MVC-related injury and mortality rates were reported  for Panama (119.35 and 2.14 per 100,000 population, respectively, in 0 to  14-years-olds), while Guatemala had the highest median MVC-related fatality rate  (8.84 per 100,000 events; χ(2) [2] = 377.8; p < 0.001) with a statistically  significant trend increasing over time (r = 0.947; p = 0.027). Although several  factors play a role in the prevention of MVCs among 0 to 14-year-olds, we found that  Costa Rica was the only country that implemented a policy on child restraint systems  resulting in the lowest rates of MVC-related injury, mortality, and fatality. These  results could be used by decision makers from the aforementioned Central American  countries to develop adequate policies addressing MVC preventative strategies to  protect Central American infants and children.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1661-7827",
doi="10.3390/ijerph18010037",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18010037"
}