The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #68387

Gregory R. Istre, MD¹, Mary McCoy¹, Martha Stowe, MSW¹, Jeffrey J. Barnard, MD², and Ron Anderson, MD³. (1) Injury Prevention Center of Greater Dallas, P.O. Box 36067, 5000 Harry Hines Blvd. Suite 101, Dallas, TX 75235, 214-590-4455, gistre@aol.com, (2) Chief Medical Examiner, Dallas County, Office of Medical Examiner of Dallas County, 5230 Medical Center Drive, Dallas, TX 75235, (3) Parkland Memorial Hospital, 5201 Harry Hines Blvd., Dallas, TX 75235

Background: Pedestrian deaths account for 22% of all motor vehicle-related deaths in Dallas County, TX. We undertook to describe these pedestrian deaths, using details identified through the medical examiner, with the hope of identifying risk groups and potential preventive interventions for this problem. Methods: We reviewed details of every pedestrian death that occurred in Dallas County, TX, for the years 1997, 1998, 2000, and 2002. The ME records included demographic variables, information about the location of the injury and events leading to the death, and blood alcohol content. Results: There were 224 unintentional pedestrian deaths for the 4 year period (2.5 per 100,000 persons per year); 72% were male; 88% were adults. Three distinct patterns were apparent. Among children (< 16 yrs), most were Black or Hispanic, occurred during daylight on surface streets, parking lots or driveways. Among the elderly (>64 yrs), most were white, were injured on surface streets; few had alcohol involvement. Among the 169 adult (16-64 years) deaths, 49% occurred on limited-access highways or their service roads (HWYs); 48% had documented alcohol involvement, which was associated with nighttime (8pm-6am) injuries (OR 3.2, 95% CL 1.5-6.4). Among the subset of 93 persons 15-39 years of age, 63% deaths occurred on HWYs, 76% of which were at night. Most had either tried to cross the HWY or attended to a disabled vehicle at the time. Conclusions: These three patterns of pedestrian deaths may help to target preventive interventions, especially education about safe procedures for managing disabled vehicles on HWYs.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the differing patterns of pedestrian for children, adults, and the elderly.
• Recognize the preponderance of highways as the site of pedestrian deaths among young adults.
• Discuss possible intervnetions that may help prevent these deaths.

Keywords: Motor Vehicles, Alcohol Use

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.