CONTEXT: While road traffic mortality has been reported to be seriously undercounted by the police in China, non-police-reported data have not been explored previously to examine vulnerable road user mortality. OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in bicyclist mortality between 2006 and 2010 in China, using the Disease Surveillance Points (DSP) data of China. DESIGN, SETTING AND DATA SOURCE: Mortality data of 2006-2010 from DSP data, covering 73 million population, was analysed. Poisson regression was used to examine the significance of year after controlling for sex, age and urban/rural location. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Mortality rate and mortality rate ratio (MRR). RESULTS: Between 2006 and 2010, the mortality rate for bicyclists increased from 1.1 to 1.6 per 100 000 population according to DSP data. Between 2006 and 2010, more than 90% of bicyclist deaths were undercounted by the police compared to the findings from DSP data. Contrary to the 34% increase between 2006 and 2010 reflected by DSP data (adjusted MRR: 1.34, 95% CI 1.23 to 1.46), police data revealed a 64% decrease in bicyclist mortality (unadjusted MRR: 0.36, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.40) in the study time period. CONCLUSIONS: Health data should be used to assess the road traffic injuries in China. The recent increase in bicyclist mortality merits attention from policy makers and researchers.
CONTEXT: While road traffic mortality has been reported to be seriously undercounted by the police in China, non-police-reported data have not been explored previously to examine vulnerable road user mortality. OBJECTIVE: To examine changes in bicyclist mortality between 2006 and 2010 in China, using the Disease Surveillance Points (DSP) data of China. DESIGN, SETTING AND DATA SOURCE: Mortality data of 2006-2010 from DSP data, covering 73 million population, was analysed. Poisson regression was used to examine the significance of year after controlling for sex, age and urban/rural location. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Mortality rate and mortality rate ratio (MRR). RESULTS: Between 2006 and 2010, the mortality rate for bicyclists increased from 1.1 to 1.6 per 100 000 population according to DSP data. Between 2006 and 2010, more than 90% of bicyclist deaths were undercounted by the police compared to the findings from DSP data. Contrary to the 34% increase between 2006 and 2010 reflected by DSP data (adjusted MRR: 1.34, 95% CI 1.23 to 1.46), police data revealed a 64% decrease in bicyclist mortality (unadjusted MRR: 0.36, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.40) in the study time period. CONCLUSIONS: Health data should be used to assess the road traffic injuries in China. The recent increase in bicyclist mortality merits attention from policy makers and researchers.
Authors: Yuyan Gao; David C Schwebel; Lingling Zhang; Wangxin Xiao; Guoqing Hu Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2020-05-07 Impact factor: 3.390