Measuring the Global Health Burden of Road Traffic Accidents Sebastian Vollmer ieConnect for Impact Workshop, Rio de Janeiro June 24, 2015

What do road traffic accidents do to you (and other people)?

They destroy your car... ...but in this talk we don‘t care about that.

They hurt you physically...

...and mentally!

And they might kill you!

How can we measure the total health impact?

Comparing health conditions with each other Person A has frequent headaches, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and dizziness. The person is often anxious and moody. Person B has lost part of one leg, leaving pain and tingling in the stump. The person does not have an artificial leg, has frequent sores, and uses crutches. Who do you think has a better health experience overall, person A or person B?

Comparing health conditions with each other Person A has frequent headaches, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and dizziness. The person is often anxious and moody. Person B has lost part of one leg, leaving pain and tingling in the stump. The person does not have an artificial leg, has frequent sores, and uses crutches. Result here

Comparing health conditions with each other Person A has frequent headaches, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and dizziness. The person is often anxious and moody. Person B has lost part of one leg, leaving pain and tingling in the stump. The person has a comfortable artificial leg and only slight difficulties moving around. Who do you think has a better health experience overall, person A or person B?

Comparing health conditions with each other Person A has frequent headaches, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and dizziness. The person is often anxious and moody. Person B has lost part of one leg, leaving pain and tingling in the stump. The person has a comfortable artificial leg and only slight difficulties moving around. Result here

Results of the Global Burden of Disease Study Traumatic brain injury: long-term consequences, moderate, with or without treatment: 0.224 (95% CI: 0.153–0.314) Amputation of one leg: long term, without treatment: 0.164 (95% CI: 0.111–0.229)

Results of the Global Burden of Disease Study Traumatic brain injury: long-term consequences, moderate, with or without treatment: 0.224 (95% CI: 0.153–0.314) Amputation of one leg: long term, without treatment: 0.164 (95% CI: 0.111–0.229) Amputation of one leg: long term, with treatment: 0.021 (95% CI: 0.011–0.035)

Comparing health conditions with mortality Scenario 1: You have frequent headaches, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and dizziness. You are often anxious and moody. You will live for another 18 years with this condition and then die. Scenario 2: You will live for another X years in perfect health and then die. How large must X be at least such that you to prefer Scenario 2 over Scenario 1? A: 11 / B: 12 / C: 13 / D: 14 / E: 15 / F: 16 / G: 17 / H: 18

Comparing health conditions with mortality Scenario 1: You have frequent headaches, memory problems, difficulty concentrating, and dizziness. You are often anxious and moody. You will live for another 18 years with this condition and then die. Scenario 2: You will live for another X years in perfect health and then die. Result here

Based on this (with some additional math) DALYs (Disability Adjusted Life Years) = Years of Life Lost due to premature death + Years of Life Lost due to living with health condition

Global TOP 10 Causes of DALYs 75 Million DALYs due to road injuries (Men only: 54 Million, rank 4!)

Regional Differences

Kazakhstan TOP 10 Causes of DALYs 240,000 DALYs due to road injuries

Global DALYs 2010

References Salomon, Joshua et al. (2012) Common values in assessing health outcomes from disease and injury: disability weights measurement study for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. The Lancet, Volume 380, No. 9859, p2129–2143 http://www.healthdata.org