The impact of motor vehicle crashes on the health of individuals and populations is well recognized. They constitute the leading cause of death between ages 1 and 34 years (over infectious diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disease, or other types of injury) and the eighth cause of death across all age groups. For every motor vehicle fatality, approximately 79 individuals require medical attention in emergency departments. In fact, motor vehicle injuries represent 4.2% of all visits to EDs. At times, even these numbers are not adequate to fully quantify the magnitude and the burden of motor vehicle crash-related injuries. In these instances, summary measures, such as economic costs or quality-adjusted life years that integrate both the incidence and consequences of fatal and nonfatal outcomes into one metric, may be very helpful. These summary measures are also critical to evaluate the benefits accrued with the implementation of preventive policies or programs aimed at reducing the incidence and consequences of injuries. The recently released National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report, "The Economic lmpact of Motor Vehicle Crashes, 2000," is a welcome revision to one such integrated measure, the lifetime costs associated with motor vehicle crash-related victims. The report updates the agency's last published 1994 figures on the lifetime consequences of crashes and their injuries to occupants and pedestrians. The new report presents estimates of both health-related and non-health-related costs. (Author/publisher)
Samenvatting