Road traffic injuries in Tanzanian children and adolescents: A cross-sectional household survey

Objective: To measure annual rates of road traffic injuries (RTI) and to describe the characteristics of road traffic crashes experienced by children and adolescents in Tanga, Tanzania.Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional household survey using geospatial population-weighted sam-pling in the city of Tanga in northern Tanzania. Data were collected in February and March of 2022. We report 12-month rates of road traffic crashes and RTI (reported by adult caregivers) among children and adolescents < 18 years of age.Results: A total of 2,794 adult respondents reported data on 6563 children and adolescents, among whom, 180 were reported to have experienced road traffic crashes in the past 12 months (crash inci-dence: 27.4 per 1,0 0 0 children, 95%CI 23.5-31.4) and 158 sustained injuries (RTI incidence: 24.1 per 10 0 0 children, 95%CI 20.4-27.8). Almost a quarter of RTI (23%) were reported to be major (resulting in >= 30 days of missed activities). RTI was higher among adolescents (13-17 years) than children <5 years (21.5 vs. 14.1 per 1,0 0 0, p = 0.039). Few children always or sometimes wore helmets when riding on motorcy-cles/motorbikes (12.8%) or wore safety restraints/seat belts in cars or other vehicles (11.9%).Conclusion: The high rate of road traffic crashes and RTI observed among children and adolescents in a medium-sized city in Tanzania underscores the urgent need to improve road safety and increase use of safety equipment in low resource settings.(c) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.