Patterns of injuries and motor-vehicle traffic accidents in Athens.

The extremely high cost of motor-vehicle accidents in public health leads to the necessity of a better injury data collection in the Accident and Emergency Hospital Departments. The ‘Asclepeion’ of Voula Hospital covers the southeastern suburban areas of the greater Athens area (1 000 000 population). The aim of this study is to present information on the pattern of injuries in Athens, in order to understand the magnitude of the problem and develop rational prevention programmes. Specially trained health visitors of the Emergency Department Injury Surveillance System (EDISS) interviewed in person every injured victim who was brought into the Emergency Service of the ‘Asclepeion’ of Voula Hospital. The study was performed during a 3-year period, from 1996 to 1998; 4564 persons were interviewed. Traffic accidents were more frequent on weekdays with a seasonal peak in July and among young Greeks (aged 25 – 34 years). The usual type of injuries seen in vehicle-accident victims were cerebral contusion and conc...