Factors Influencing on Severity of Traumatic Head Injury from Motorcycle Accident at Bangphae Hospital in Ratchaburi Province

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the factors affecting the severity of traumatic head injuries from motorcycle accidents presented at Bangphae Hospital, Ratchaburi Province. It was conducted as a retrospective descriptive study. The subjects were selected from medical records of head-injury-patients from motorcycle accident presented at the emergency department, Bangphae Hospital during the fiscal year 2021. The data were analyzed by percentage, mean, standard deviation and odds ratio between the moderate to severe head injury group and the mild head injury group; and the inferential statistics were Chi-square test and binary logistic regression. The results showed that there were 458 cases of motorcycle accidents and traumatic head injuries collected; and 289 cases (63.1%) of them were males. The majority of them were with the age range of 20-59 years old, (296 cases, 64.6%) ; and 376 cases (82.1%) were riders. The accident locations were mainly on the secondary road (358 cases, 78.2%); the time of accident was in the afternoon (46.5%); the injuries were as a result of falling and the motorcycle flip over (52.2%); riding without wearing helmets (52.2%), riding without drinking alcohol (85.8%); and 96.3% of them had mild severity of traumatic head injury. This study indicated that ages of patients from motorcycle accident and drink-driving were associated with the severity of traumatic head injury. The motorcycle accident injuries among the aged range 20-59 years were categorized as moderate to severe and mild head injury, 94.1% and 63.5%, respectively. Moreover, injuries associated with drink-driving injuries were 4.68 times more severe. There was no association between the severity and genders, types of users, the scenes, time of incident, mechanism of injury, and helmet wearing behaviors in this study. In conclusion, ages of patients from motorcycle accident and drink-driving were the risk factors associated with the severity of traumatic head injury. Law enforcement on the issue of drink-driving among motorcycle drivers aged 20-59 years old should be emphasized in order to reduce the severity of head injury and the resulting economic loss.