In-hospital costs of patients following road traffic accidents in Tehran: results from a single trauma registry center

Background: Road traffic accidents (RTAs) are the leading cause of death for children and young adults aged 5 to 39 and the third-leading cause of death in Iran. Objectives: The aim of this study was to assess in-hospital costs of patients following RTAs and identify associated factors among the patients admitted to Sina Hospital, a collaborating hospital with the National Trauma Registry of Iran ( NTRI). Methods: A hospital-based registry study was conducted between September 17, 2016, and April 30, 2022, involving 3245 patients affected by RTAs. Data collection utilized the NTRI minimum dataset. To assess the factors influencing in-hospital costs of RTAs, various statistical analyses were performed, including independent sample t-tests, one-way ANOVA, and multiple linear regression analysis. Results: The distribution of studied subjects based on sex, age, and road user group revealed that the majority were male ( 91%), within the working age range of 21-60 years (78.2%), and motorcyclists (55.2%). The mean in-hospital cost per patient following RTAs was 152.3 million Iranian Rial (IRR) ($609.35). In the multiple linear regression analysis, several factors were significantly associated with higher in-hospital costs (ps < 0.05). These factors included undergoing surgery, admission to the intensive care unit ( ICU), the year of admission, having a moderate injury severity, being a car occupant, being female, and having a longer length of stay (LOS) at the hospital. Patients who required surgery had an additional cost of 102 million IRR, while those admitted to the ICU had an additional charge of 43.4 million IRR ( ps < 0.001). Conclusions: The study findings revealed that in-hospital costs resulting from RTAs were influenced by factors such as gender, injury severity, road user group, ICU admission, surgery operation, and LOS at the hospital. The mean in-hospital costs per patient were relatively high, amounting to 152.3 million IRR ($ 609.35). These findings highlight the need for increased efforts to mitigate the burden of RTAs in the country and implement measures to reduce their occurrence.