Impact of social standing on traffic injury prevention in a WHO safe community

Abstract

The objective of the current study was to evaluate outcomes of a program to prevent traffic injuries among the different social strata under WHO Safe Community Program. A quasi-experimental design was used, with pre- and post-implementation registrations in the program implementation area (population 41,000) and in a neighbouring control municipality (population 26,000) in Ostergotland County, Sweden. The traffic injury rate in the not vocationally active households was twice than employed or self-employed households in the intervention area. In the employed and not vocationally active households, males showed higher injury rates than females in both areas. In the self-employed households females exhibited higher injury rates than males in the intervention area. Males from not vocationally active households displayed the highest post-intervention injury rate in both the intervention and control areas. After 6 years of Safe Community program activity, the injury rates for males in employed category, injury rates for females in self-employed category, and males/females in non-vocationally active category displayed a decreasing trend in the intervention area. However, in the control area injury rate decreased only for males of employed households. The study indicated that there was almost no change in injury rates in the control area. Reduction of traffic injuries in the intervention area between 1983 and 1989 was likely to be attributable to the success of safety promotion program. Therefore, the current study concludes that Safe Community program seems to be successful for reducing traffic injuries in different social strata.