Risk factors of road traffic accidents in Rural and Urban areas of indonesia based on the national survey of year 2018.

CONTEXT: Indonesia has a large population with a large number of motorised vehicles, so it cannot be separated from traffic accidents.

AIMS: This study aimed to determine and analyse the advanced level risk factors for road traffic accidents (RTA) in rural and urban areas based on data from the Basic Health Research 2018 (Riskesdas).

METHODS

This study used Riskesdas data sourced from the National Institute of Health Research and Development, Ministry of Health, Indonesia, which was collected from 34 provinces in Indonesia using a cross-sectional method. The statistical data consisted of 59,423 respondents aged over 15 years old, who had experienced a road traffic injury and lived in rural or urban areas. The data variables analysis was socio-demographic, lifestyle, smoking status, alcohol consumption, mental disorders, nutritional status and use of helmets on motorcycle riders and passengers.

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Multivariate logistic regression was used to analyse the most dominant risk factors related to RTA in rural and urban areas.

RESULTS

The prevalence of RTA in urban areas was 34.1%, while in rural areas was 28.2%. The factors related to traffic accidents in respondents from urban areas (P < 0.005) were sex (1.342 [1.217-1.480]), age (1.111 [1.067-1.156]) and use of helmets on motorcycle riders and passengers (0.662 [0.566-0.771]). Meanwhile, risk factors for respondents from rural areas (P < 0.005) were mental disorders (0.842 [0.743-0.955]), age (1.095 [1.040-1.154]) and use of helmets on motorcycle riders and passengers (0.682 [0.585-0.796]).

CONCLUSIONS

We found that the prevalence of RTA in urban areas was higher than in rural areas. The dominant risk factors related to RTA in Indonesia were age, sex, mental disorders and the use of helmets on motorcycle riders and passengers. This finding supports the importance of road safety education and the prevention of RTA needs to be done both in urban and rural areas.