Road traffic injury among child motorcyclists in Vientiane Capital, Laos: a cross-sectional study using a hospital-based injury surveillance database

Abstract

This study investigated the distribution of motorcyclists, including drivers and passengers, who were involved in road traffic crashes and admitted to hospital in Vientiane Capital, Laos. The focus was on child motorcycle drivers and passengers under 15 years. A hospital-based injury surveillance database in Vientiane Capital was used. The surveillance was performed in two hospitals. From 1 September to 31 December 2009, 3968 patients were admitted to the participating hospitals with road traffic injuries. Patients under 15 years accounted for 10.8% (427/3968). The majority of patients under 15 years were motorcycle drivers or passengers (71.7%, 306/427). Child motorcyclists including drivers and passengers were less likely to wear a helmet than adults (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.3, 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.2–0.5, for children 10–14 years; adjusted OR: 0.1, 95% CI, 0.05–0.4, for children under 10 years). It is suggested that stricter regulation enforcement for child motorcycle drivers and passengers may be needed. In addition, barriers against wearing helmets for motorcycle drivers and passengers in Laos should also be examined in further studies.

Keywords:

• children
• motorcycle
• underage
• helmet use
• Laos

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Grant for International Health Research (22-11 and 25-9) of Center Hospital of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine. We are grateful to Keiji Mizutani, and Junichi Natsui for development of the Web-based registry system.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Grant for International Health Research (22-11 and 25-9) of Center Hospital of the National Center for Global Health and Medicine.