Protecting only white children: the impact of child restraint legislation in Brazil

Effectiveness of road safety interventions: An evidence and gap map

Background

Road Traffic injuries (RTI) are among the top ten leading causes of death in the world resulting in 1.35 million deaths every year, about 93% of which occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Despite several global resolutions to reduce traffic injuries, they have continued to grow in many countries. Many high-income countries have successfully reduced RTI by using a public health approach and implementing evidence-based interventions. As many LMICs develop their highway infrastructure, adopting a similar scientific approach towards road safety is crucial. The evidence also needs to be evaluated to assess external validity because measures that have worked in high-income countries may not translate equally well to other contexts. An evidence gap map for RTI is the first step towards understanding what evidence is available, from where, and the key gaps in knowledge.

Objectives

The objective of this evidence gap map (EGM) is to identify existing evidence from all effectiveness studies and systematic reviews related to road safety interventions. In addition, the EGM identifies gaps in evidence where new primary studies and systematic reviews could add value. This will help direct future research and discussions based on systematic evidence towards the approaches and interventions which are most effective in the road safety sector. This could enable the generation of evidence for informing policy at global, regional or national levels.

Search Methods

The EGM includes systematic reviews and impact evaluations assessing the effect of interventions for RTI reported in academic databases, organization websites, and grey literature sources. The studies were searched up to December 2019.

Selection Criteria

The interventions were divided into five broad categories: (a) human factors (e.g., enforcement or road user education), (b) road design, infrastructure and traffic control, (c) legal and institutional framework, (d) post-crash pre-hospital care, and (e) vehicle factors (except car design for occupant protection) and protective devices. Included studies reported two primary outcomes: fatal crashes and non-fatal injury crashes; and four intermediate outcomes: change in use of seat belts, change in use of helmets, change in speed, and change in alcohol/drug use. Studies were excluded if they did not report injury or fatality as one of the outcomes.

Data Collection and Analysis

The EGM is presented in the form of a matrix with two primary dimensions: interventions (rows) and outcomes (columns). Additional dimensions are country income groups, region, quality level for systematic reviews, type of study design used (e.g., case-control), type of road user studied (e.g., pedestrian, cyclists), age groups, and road type. The EGM is available online where the matrix of interventions and outcomes can be filtered by one or more dimensions. The webpage includes a bibliography of the selected studies and titles and abstracts available for preview. Quality appraisal for systematic reviews was conducted using a critical appraisal tool for systematic reviews, AMSTAR 2.

Main Results

The EGM identified 1859 studies of which 322 were systematic reviews, 7 were protocol studies and 1530 were impact evaluations. Some studies included more than one intervention, outcome, study method, or study region. The studies were distributed among intervention categories as: human factors (n = 771), road design, infrastructure and traffic control (n = 661), legal and institutional framework (n = 424), post-crash pre-hospital care (n = 118) and vehicle factors and protective devices (n = 111). Fatal crashes as outcomes were reported in 1414 records and non-fatal injury crashes in 1252 records. Among the four intermediate outcomes, speed was most commonly reported (n = 298) followed by alcohol (n = 206), use of seatbelts (n = 167), and use of helmets (n = 66). Ninety-six percent of the studies were reported from high-income countries (HIC), 4.5% from upper-middle-income countries, and only 1.4% from lower-middle and low-income countries. There were 25 systematic reviews of high quality, 4 of moderate quality, and 293 of low quality.

Authors' Conclusions

The EGM shows that the distribution of available road safety evidence is skewed across the world. A vast majority of the literature is from HICs. In contrast, only a small fraction of the literature reports on the many LMICs that are fast expanding their road infrastructure, experiencing rapid changes in traffic patterns, and witnessing growth in road injuries. This bias in literature explains why many interventions that are of high importance in the context of LMICs remain poorly studied. Besides, many interventions that have been tested only in HICs may not work equally effectively in LMICs. Another important finding was that a large majority of systematic reviews are of low quality. The scarcity of evidence on many important interventions and lack of good quality evidence-synthesis have significant implications for future road safety research and practice in LMICs. The EGM presented here will help identify priority areas for researchers, while directing practitioners and policy makers towards proven interventions.

Evidence From the Decade of Action for Road Safety: A Systematic Review of the Effectiveness of Interventions in Low and Middle-Income Countries

Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of road safety interventions in low and middle-income countries (LMICs), considering the principles of systems theory presented in the Global Plan for the Decade of Action for Road Safety.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review according to PRISMA guidelines. We searched for original research studies published during 2011–2019 in the following databases: Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Scopus, Web of Science, Cochrane library, Global Health Library, ProQuest and TRID. We included studies conducted in LMICs, evaluating the effects of road traffic safety interventions and reporting health-related outcomes.

Results: Of 12,353 non-duplicate records, we included a total of 33 studies. Most interventions were related to legislation and enforcement (n = 18), leadership (n = 5) and speed management (n = 4). Overall, legislation and enforcement interventions appear to have the largest impact. Few studies were found for road infrastructure, vehicle safety standard and post crash response interventions.

Conclusion: Based on the currently available evidence, legislation and enforcement interventions appear most impactful in LMICs. However, many interventions remain understudied and more holistic approaches capturing the complexity of road transport systems seem desirable.

Systematic Review Registration:https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=197267, identifier CRD42020197267.

Challenges on Diagnoses and Assessments Related to Autism Spectrum Disorder in Brazil: A Systematic Review

Being a continental country, with over 210 million citizens, Brazil is similar to all of those who are part of the LAMIC (Low and middle income countries). It shows a big concentration of wealth, mainly in its south and southeast regions, as well as areas with immense poverty. In that sense, the health system also faces a huge amount of contrast. Inside University hospitals and facilities there are sophisticated tools and trained doctors prepared to assist in any kind of medical subject, including autism. But, unfortunately, at other times, the access to a good health system is made much harder. This results in many issues in the medical community, e.g., looking at the data regarding autism, there is a high average of the age of diagnosis. Another issue is the low number of professionals trained in ASD diagnosis and the few tools translated to Portuguese.

Prenatal cannabis use disorder and future risk of road traffic injuries in Canadian children

The extent to which child traffic injuries may be attributed to parents who use cannabis before driving is unknown. We investigated whether prenatal cannabis use disorders may predict future road traffic injuries in children. We conducted a cohort study of 792,082 children in Quebec, Canada with 6,280,663 years of follow-up between 2006 and 2019. The main exposure measure was maternal cannabis use disorder before or during pregnancy. The main outcome measure was future hospitalizations for transport-related injuries in children after birth. Using Cox proportional hazards regression models adjusted for potential confounders, we estimated hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for the association of prenatal cannabis use disorders with transport-related injuries in children. Maternal cannabis use disorders before birth were associated with 5.64 times the risk of hospitalization for future motor vehicle crash injuries in children (95% CI 2.61-12.21). The risk increased with the child's age. Prenatal cocaine, opioid, and other drug use disorders were not associated with pediatric transport-related injuries. Maternal cannabis use disorders before birth may be an early predictor of childhood injuries from motor vehicle crashes.

Prevention of childhood unintentional injuries in low- and middle-income countries: A systematic review

Injuries are a leading cause of death and disability among children. Numerous injury prevention strategies have been successful in high-income countries, but the majority of unintentional injuries happen to children living in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This project aims to delineate the childhood injury prevention initiatives in LMICs. For inclusion, peer-reviewed articles needed to address unintentional injury, include children <18, assess a prevention-related intervention, contain a control group, and be published after 1988. Two pairs of reviewers evaluated articles independently to determine study eligibility. 74 articles were included. 30 studies addressed road traffic injuries, 11 drowning, 8 burns, 3 falls, 8 poisonings, and 21 an unspecified injury type. The findings show positive effects on injury outcome measures following educational interventions, the need for longer follow-up periods after the intervention, the need for effectiveness trials for behavior change, and the need for an increase in injury prevention services in LMICs. This is the first systematic review to summarize the prevention initiatives for all types of childhood unintentional injuries in LMICs. Increased attention and funding are required to go beyond educational initiatives with self-reported measures and little follow-up time to robust interventions that will reduce the global burden of unintentional injuries among children.

Comparison of traffic data and blood alcohol concentration among fatally injured drivers in Norway and Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2005-2015

Objective: Road traffic crashes (RTCs) are responsible for a large number of deaths worldwide, but low- and middle-income countries frequently present higher rates of deaths; for example, Norway, a high-income country, has a rate of 2.0 drivers killed per 100,000 inhabitants, whereas Brazil, a middle-income country, has a rate of 18.4. A significant fraction of RTCs are related to use of psychoactive substances, especially alcohol, due to its availability, legality, and relatively low price. The aim of the present study was to evaluate differences in alcohol-related fatal RTCs in Sao Paulo, the largest city in Brazil, and Norway during an 11-year period (2005-2015). Methods: The authors compared databases of drivers killed in RTCs in Sao Paulo and in Norway, a country renowned for its success in reducing traffic fatalities and keeping them at a low level. Results: In total, 772 victims from Norway (11 years, 2005 to 2015) and 584 victims from Sao Paulo (2 years, 2005 and 2015) were analyzed. Sao Paulo presented higher proportions of motorcycle drivers, men involved in RTCs, and blood alcohol concentration (BAC)-positive cases. The mean BAC for alcohol-positive cases was similar in both sites. For both regions, the percentage of alcohol-positive cases decreased during the study period (from 45.6% to 35.3% in Sao Paulo and from 24.4% to 15.8% in Norway) but remained higher for Sao Paulo. Conclusions: The study shows a different profile of RTC victims and higher alcohol consumption among drivers in Sao Paulo. The differences between the sites can possibly be attributed to public policies regarding traffic safety and alcohol control, which could be further improved by following the Norwegian model in Sao Paulo.

Educational inequalities in traffic deaths during fluctuations of the economy in four Argentinian provinces, 1999-2013

OBJECTIVES

The objective of this study is to analyse how educational differentials in traffic mortality changed during economic fluctuations in four Argentinian provinces.

STUDY DESIGN

Retrospective quantitative analysis of secondary data.

METHODS

Data on fatalities due to traffic injuries (all traffic injuries, pedestrians/cyclists, motorcyclists, car users and unspecified road users) in four Argentinian provinces between 1999 and 2013 were linked to population data and information on the educational level of the deceased to compute mortality rates by educational level. Negative binomial models were estimated using age, sex, year, province of residence, year of economic expansion or recession and educational level as explanatory variables.

RESULTS

Annual traffic mortality differentials by educational level were lower during the period of economic crisis. An absolute increase in traffic mortality was observed in individuals of low educational level during economic expansions, but here, there were no traffic mortality differences for individuals of medium to high educational level. The educational gap in motorcyclist mortality widened during the period of quick economic expansion between 2005 and 2013.

CONCLUSIONS

We found less educational inequality in traffic mortality during an economic crisis in a developing country. However, the educational inequalities for different subtypes of traffic mortality show different patterns of evolution during the cycle of economic expansion and recession. Considering deaths due to traffic injuries, economic growth seems to be riskier for individuals of lower educational level compared with those of medium-high educational level.