Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal ORIGINAL ARTICLE Investigating the Relative Risk Factors of Injuries Caused by Accidents on Roads in the Mashhad Area in 2007 A Vafaee-Najar1,2, M Khabbazkhoob1,3*, H Alidadi-Soltangholi1,4, S Asgari 3 , H Ibrahimipour1,2 1Health Sciences Research Center, School of Public Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 2Department of Health and Management, School of Public Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran 3Noor Ophthalmology Research Center, Noor Eye Hospital, Tehran, Iran 4Department of Environmental Health, School of Public Health, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran Abstract Background: Currently, accidents are the second highest cause of death in most societies. Traffic accidents account for the largest proportion of accidental deaths. The aim of this report was to identify the accidents that cause casualties on the roads around Mashhad. Methods: This study was a case-control study, where the cases were drivers who had accidents resulted in cas- ualties, and the controls were drivers who had accidents in the same locations without casualties. Variables included age, sex, seatbelt use, spontaneous combustion, entrapment within the vehicle, ejection from the vehi- cle, music playing in the vehicle at the time of the accident, use of cell phone, smoking at the time of the acci- dent, the direction of the accident, the time of day, and the model of the vehicle. Results: Interviews were conducted with the 90% of the cases and the 93% of the controls who consented to being interviewed. Females accounted for 16.2% of the case group and 23.4% of the control group, and males comprised 83.8 % of the cases and 76.6% of the controls. The average age of the case group was 35.5±10.5 and of the control group was 39.4±9.8 years. The use of a seatbelt as a safety factor was significantly greater in the control group (OR=0.44). Combustion occurred in approximately 21% of the accidents in the case group, but in only 1.3% of the accidents in the control group. Being trapped in and being ejected from the vehicle were significantly more prevalent in the case group. Conclusions: According to the results of this study, the fastening of seatbelts had a significantly positive effect on reducing the injuries caused by an accident. Age was another significant indicator influencing the outcome of road accidents education through media seems to play a great role in reducing mortality and morbidity due to road accident. Keywords: Accidents; Case-control study; Iran Introduction According to the report by World Health Organization (WHO), an accident is defined as an incident with no history of causing a recognizable harm. Based on WHO annual statistics, approximately 1.2 million deaths were caused by accidents each year. Some other statistics re- ported 226 deaths out of 1 million in year 2000. It is expected that until year 2010, deaths caused *Correspondence: Mehdi Khabazkhoob, PhD, Noor Ophthal- mology Research Center, Noor Eye Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Tel: +98-511-8514549, Fax: +98-511-8517505, e-mail: khabaz-khoob@yahoo.com Received: September 12, 2010 Accepted: February 26, 2011 by accidents reach to 1.8 million per year. It is pre- dicted that in year 2010, the load caused by accidents reaches the 3rd rank.1,2 The reported results from our country indicate a higher number in comparison to the Eastern Mediterranean region and some studies reported the frequency of 30 in 100 thousands.3 Ac- cording to a report on 2005, over 25 thousands death in car accidents were reported to the legal medical centers, this rate is 17% more than its equivalent in the previous year. It is also estimated that every hour, 3 deaths occur due to car accidents.4 Car accident besides the damages they cause, have consequences like injuries and disabilities which are Iran Red Crescent Med J 2011; 13(8):530-536 ©Iranian Red Crescent Medical Journal