Risk factors for road traffic injury in Pakistani children.

Road traffic injury (RTI) is an important cause of disability and mortality in Pakistani children. To focus interventions more effectively, we wished to identify factors that would predict which children were most at risk. We studied inpatients at Children's Hospital of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences in Islamabad. We compared three groups: children who sustained an RTI, those who sustained an injury unrelated to road traffic, and those admitted for reasons other than injury. Most RTIs in our sample involved pedestrians, and most children were unsupervised. Children from small homes, families with many children, or tents used as homes were at elevated risk for RTI compared to non-RTI injured children and non-injured controls. Children with uneducated mothers were at greater risk for RTI compared to non-injured controls. We recommend focusing injury prevention programs on children from small homes, large families, and squatter settlements. Beyond conventional strategies for injury prevention, studies should test the benefits of improved playgrounds, school enrollment, supervised after-school programs, housing assistance projects, and educational programs for mothers.