Using Disability-Adjusted Life Years to assess the burden of road traffic injuries in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar

ABSTRACT Background Road traffic injury (RTI) is growing public health problem in Myanmar. In addition, every count in road crush is followed by remarkable burdens in the community. In this study, burden of disease (BOD) approach is used to quantify this hidden problem in the studied area. Aim/Objective/Purpose To assess the burden of traffic injuries in Nay Pyi Taw Union Territory, Myanmar Methods This cross-sectional study analyzed 16,338 traffic injury victims in injury registry, from 2012 to 2016. The burden was estimated by disability-adjusted life years (DALYs). The analysis was disaggregated by sex, age and type of road users, as well as expressed the rate by per 100,000 population. Results/Outcomes It was 60,962 DALYs in total for the studied period, with the rate of 1050.85 per 100,000 population. Although premature death in road crash was only 6.2% in the study, it attributed 87.8% of total burden. Total DALYs contributed by male were three-times higher than female. Nearly half of burden came from the young and productive population of 15-29 years. The highest DALYs rate was seen in the 20-24 years in male and 30-34 years in female. The highest RTI burden was due to motorized two-wheelers, with 69.4% of total DALYs. Conclusion This study initiates usefulness of local data from injury registry to calculate the burden of injury. The findings highlight a huge burden of traffic injuries in the community, focusing on the hidden contribution of fatal cases and the vulnerability of young adult, male and motorcyclists in traffic accidents.