Mortality and disability-adjusted life years in motorcyclists in Latin America and the Caribbean during the first decade of action for road safety

Abstract

Objective. To identify the temporal trend in mortality and years of life lost to death or disability (DALY) due to motorcycle accidents in males from Latin America and the Caribbean from 2010 to 2019, using estimates produced by the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study. Method. In this ecological study, the time series was analyzed using a piecewise linear regression model (joinpoint) to estimate and test the annual percent change and the average annual percent change with a 95% confidence interval. Results. The super-region defined by GBD 2019 as Latin America and the Caribbean ranked first globally in mortality and DALY for male motorcyclists aged 15-49 in 2019. Rates increased significantly from 2010 to 2013, with a significant reduction in both after this period. During the analyzed decade, the Tropical Latin America sub-region (Brazil and Paraguay) had the highest mortality and DALY rates in the population of interest; nevertheless, this was the only sub-region achieving a significant reduction in these rates. The Caribbean sub-region (Bermuda, Dominica, Suriname, Guyana, Belize, Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Saint Lucia, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Saint Kitts and Nevis, U.S. Virgin Islands, Grenada, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Antigua and Barbuda, Cuba e Jamaica) showed a significant increase in both rates over the same period, while Andean Latin America (Ecuador, Bolivia and Peru) and Central Latin America (Colombia, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Honduras, and Venezuela) remained stable. Conclusions. The data underscore the importance of developing surveillance actions aimed at preventing motorcycle accidents, since the observed declining rates are still insufficient to address the morbidity and mortality associated with road accidents as a public health problem.