A road traffic injury surveillance system using combined data sources in Peru

This paper describes a national hospital-based non fatal road traffic injury surveillance system that was established at sentinel units across Peru in 2007 under the leadership of the Ministry of Health.

Key aspects of the surveillance system are:

• surveillance data are drawn from three different sources (hospital records, police reports, and vehicle insurance reports) and include non fatal road traffic injuries initially attended at emergency rooms.
• a single data collection form is used to record information about the injured, event characteristics related to the driver of the vehicle(s), and the vehicle(s).
• data are analysed periodically and disseminated to all surveillance system participants.

From the above system, the key results indicate:

• young adult males (15-29 years old) were most affected by non fatal road traffic injuries and were most often the drivers of the vehicles involved in the collision.
• four-wheeled vehicle occupants comprised one-half of cases in most regions of the country, and pedestrians injured in the event accounted for almost another half.

In conclusion, the authors conclude that the system established in Peru could serve as a model for the use of multiple data sources in national non fatal road traffic injury surveillance. Finally, based on this study, the authors argue that the challenges of this type of system include sustaining and increasing participation among sentinel units nationwide and identifying appropriate prevention interventions at the local level based on the resulting data.