The pattern of orthopedic fractures and visceral injury in road traffic crash victims, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253690
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Summary
This study addresses the limited evidence regarding orthopedic fracture patterns and visceral injuries among road traffic crash victims in Ethiopia, a low-income country where such injuries represent a significant public health burden. The research aimed to assess the magnitude of these injuries and identify associated risk factors to inform prevention strategies and fracture care improvements. The researchers conducted a hospital-based cross-sectional study between November 2019 and February 2020. Data were collected from 420 orthopedic fracture patients randomly selected from three tertiary hospitals in Addis Ababa: Tikur Anbessa Specialized Hospital, AaBET Hospital, and Minilik II Hospital. Participants were aged 18 years or older and diagnosed with musculoskeletal fractures requiring tertiary care. Data collection involved structured questionnaires administered by trained medical doctors and nurses, alongside medical records and radiographic findings. Statistical analysis included descriptive statistics and multilevel logistic regression to differentiate individual and group-level risk factors for visceral injury, as well as Ordered Probit models to characterize injury severity. The results indicated that males (74.0%) and young adults aged 18–34 years (63.1%) were the most affected demographics. The overall mortality rate was 14.1%, with males accounting for 85.0% of deaths. Pedestrians constituted the largest group of victims (52.4% in the abstract, 46.9% in the results table), primarily suffering from simple fractures (53.3%). In contrast, drivers predominantly experienced compound fractures (59.0%). Visceral injuries were present in 43.3% of fracture patients. A key finding was that homeless persons who sat or slept on the roadside had a significantly higher risk of thoracic visceral injury compared to traveling pedestrians, with an adjusted odds ratio of 4.600 (95% CI: 1.215–17.417; P = 0.025). Skull fractures were the most common isolated fracture in both males and females. The study concludes that visceral injuries, simple, and compound fractures are common among crash victims in Addis Ababa, with males, pedestrians, and young age groups bearing the highest burden. The significant risk of visceral injury among homeless roadside individuals highlights a specific vulnerability requiring targeted interventions. The authors recommend preventing harmful crashes and improving fracture care to reduce the burden of road traffic injuries in Ethiopia.
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| Stage | Outcome | Tool | Model | Prompt | Attempts | Completed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| discover | success | Crossref | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
| archive | success | canonical_url | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| extract | success | cached | — | — | 2 | 2026-06-26 |
| clean | success | clean | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| chunk | success | chunk | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| embed | success | embed | Qwen/Qwen3-Embedding-8B | — | 1 | 2026-06-20 |
| promote | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-19 |
| summarize | success | llm | qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant | summ-v5 | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
| tag | success | vector_similarity | — | — | 6 | 2026-06-20 |
| verify | success | — | — | — | 1 | 2026-06-26 |
Summary generated by qwen3.6-27b-prismaquant on 2026-06-26; verification: verified.
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- Empirical Findings: crash risk outcomes