Trend Over Six Years of Incidence of Mortality Related To Road Traffic Accidents in Six Cities of the Democratic Republic of the Congo: A Retrospective Survey in Population Based

Author(s): Joachim Ndongila Moba, Aliocha Natuhoyila Nkodila, Luc Bakumobatane Mokassa, Mathieu Nkumu Loposso, Désiré Kulimba Mashinda, Glennie Eba Nsambi, Dieudonné Molamba Moningo, Anatole Kapay Kibadi, Benjamin Longo Mbenza

Background and Objective: Despite the reduction in the risks incurred, obtained thanks to the constant improvement of the road networks, the mortality rate by road accidents had doubled in 20 years in the world. The objective of this study is to evaluate the evolutionary trend of mortality due to road traffic accidents in 6 cities of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study of road traffic accident data in 6 cities in the DRC over a period from 2011 to 2016, based on data from the police stations of these 6 cities. It took into account all the accidents on the public highway having been the subject of a report by the police officers. Mortality and injuries due to road accidents were the dependent variables while socio-demographic characteristics, behavioral and environmental determinants were the independent variables.

Results: A total of 4635 road traffic accidents were recorded during 6 years in six cities of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Road traffic accidents evolved linearly over the years with a high frequency in 2016 (1415 cases). The overall incidence of mortality in the six cities was 3.4/100P-Y. This incidence of mortality increased more and more over the years, going from 1.6/100PA in 2011 to 5.1/100P-Y in 2016. The incidence of mortality per year and per city, it is noted that mortality increased over the years in each city, with very high and significant mortality in Kinshasa and Lubumbashi.

Conclusion: These data have shown that road traffic accidents increased over the years and the incidence of mortality varied from one city to another.