Citation

Parker EM, Ear C, Roehler DR, Sann S, Sem P, Ballesteros MF. Traffic Injury Prev. 2014; 15(5): 477-482.

Affiliation

a Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention , National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , 4770 Buford Highway NE, MS-F62 , Atlanta , GA , 30341 , USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2014, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/15389588.2013.836597

PMID

24215613

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Worldwide, 1.24 million deaths and 20-50 million road crash injuries occur annually, with a disproportionate burden on low and middle-income countries. Facing continued growth in motorized vehicles, Cambodia has begun to address road safety, including the creation of a nationwide road crash surveillance system, the Road Crash and Victim Information System (RCVIS). This study evaluates RCVIS to understand whether road crash injuries are being monitored efficiently and effectively and to identify areas for improvement. METHODS: We used the CDC Guidelines for Evaluating Public Health Surveillance Systems as an evaluation framework. To assess system attributes, we conducted in-person interviews with Cambodian road safety stakeholders, including representatives from the Ministries of Health and Interior, and reviewed RCVIS annual reports and system-operation documents. Characteristics assessed include usefulness, flexibility, acceptability, sensitivity, representativeness, data quality, and timeliness. RESULTS: The Cambodian government uses RCVIS data extensively for road safety planning purposes. RCVIS participation varies by type of data source, with 100% of police districts and 65% of hospitals reporting in 2010. Representativeness over time is a limitation-between 2007 and 2008, the number of reporting hospitals decreased from 65 to 42. From 2007 to 2010, the number of non-fatal injuries reported to RCVIS decreased by 35%, despite rapid growth in vehicle registrations. The system is timely, with annual reports disseminated within 10 months to more than 250 stakeholders. CONCLUSION: RCVIS provides a strong foundation for the surveillance of road crash injuries and fatalities in Cambodia. Differences in participation by data source and reduced hospital participation over time affect data representativeness and may indicate issues with acceptability. Recommendations include working with hospitals to standardize reporting procedures and to increase awareness about the usefulness of the data they collect.

Language: en