Since the elderly are not included much in social life, they are more prone to traumas and accidents when compared with the young. However, when the elderly are exposed to traumas, the mortality and morbidity are more when compared with the young. In this study, the purpose is to evaluate the fatal traffic accidents in which the geriatric age group was involved in 20 years. With this study, the characteristics of the fatal accidents in our study will be determined, and possible precautions will be discussed in the light of these data. The autopsy reports of the elderly who were over the age of 65 and who died in traffic accidents were included in the study. The cases were investigated according to their ages, genders, accident scenes, accident types, accident time. In the period covered by the study, 413 elderly in Eskişehir were determined to have died as a result of traffic accidents. Mean age was 73.17 ± 6.46, 321 (77.7%) were male and 92 were female (22.3%). 65,1% (n=272) of the cases were pedestrians. High mortality rate of road traffic injuries in this group especially in pedestrians should be taken into consideration and strategies aimed at the road-user safety including periodic medical examination and improvement of road structure and facilities.
Yaşlıların trafik kazalarına maruz kalma şekilleri ve kaza sonrası yaralanma özelliklerinin genç yaş grubundan ayrı değerlendirilmesi gerektiği düşünülmektedir. Bu kapsamda ilimizde 20 yıllık dönemde geriatrik yaş grubunu ilgilendiren ölümlü trafik kazası olgularının değerlendirilmesi amaçlandı. Bu çalışmada 1997-2016 arasındaki 20 yıllık dönemde adli nitelikli ölümlerden 65 yaş üstü olup ölüm nedeni trafik kazasına bağlı olan olgular çalışma kapsamına alınacaktır. Olgular, demografik veriler, olay yeri, kaza türü, ölenin kaza anındaki konumu ve ölüm sebeplerine göre incelendi. Çalışmanın kapsadığı dönemde Eskişehir’de 413 yaşlının trafik kazası sonucu öldüğü belirlendi. Yaş ortalamasının 73,17±6,46 olduğu, olguların 321’inin (% 77,7) erkek, 92’sinin kadın olduğu (% 22,3) belirlendi. Olguların % 65,1’inin (n=272) yaya olduğu ve 279 olguda ölümcül yaranın kafa bölgesinde olduğu (% 66,7) belirlendi. Bu yaş grubunda trafik kazasında ölenlerin yüksek oranda yaya oldukları göz önüne alındığında, trafik güvenliği ve yolların yaşlı güvenliği dikkate alınarak düzenlenmesi ve kontrol edilmesi gerektiği düşünülmüştür.
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