Loss of years of healthy life due to road incidents of motorcyclists in the city of Medellin, 2012 to 2015

The hidden cost of your 'too fast food': stress-related factors and fatigue predict food delivery riders' occupational crashes

Objectives. For several years, the so-called 'gig economy' has kept transforming urban transportation dynamics. However, the literature has often overlooked the demanding, stressful and safety-compromising conditions under which delivery riders carry out their occupational tasks. This research aimed to examine whether fatigue acts as a mediating mechanism in the complex relationships among job settings, stress-related psychosocial factors at work and the occurrence of occupational traffic crashes among two-wheeled food delivery riders. Methods. This cross-sectional study field-surveyed 248 food delivery riders operating across various platforms. Participants responded to a questionnaire on work features, psychosocial factors and occupational safety issues. The data underwent both descriptive analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM). Results. As hypothesized, the occupational (riding) crashes of food delivery riders can be largely explained through work-related fatigue, which exerts a full mediation between job settings, stress-related factors and riding safety outcomes. Conclusions. These results highlight fatigue as a significant yet overlooked threat in this occupation, emphasizing the need to connect stress-related conditions with safety incidents, a relationship not previously explored among delivery riders. Moreover, our findings stress the necessity for policies and interventions targeting stress and fatigue management to improve occupational health and road safety in the gig economy era.

Lost years, mortality burden: the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on premature death due to road traffic accidents in a northern state in Malaysia

BACKGROUND

This study addresses the persistent global burden of road traffic fatalities, particularly in middle-income countries like Malaysia, by exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Road Traffic Accident (RTA) fatalities in Perak state, Malaysia, with a secondary focus on applying Years of Life Lost (YLL) to understand the implications of these premature deaths.

METHODOLOGY

The cross-sectional study retrospectively reviewed certified RTA fatalities from 2018 to 2021, individually counting fatalities in accidents and excluding cases with incomplete death profiles. Data were collected from all Forensic Departments in the government hospitals in Perak. RTA fatalities were confirmed by medical officers/physicians following established procedures during routine procedures. A total of 2517 fatal accident and victim profiles were transcribed into data collection form after reviewing death registration records and post-mortem reports. Inferential analyses were used for comparison between pre- and during COVID-19 pandemic. The standard expected YLL was calculated by comparing the age of death to the external standard life expectancy curve taking into consideration of age and gender in Malaysia.

RESULTS

This study included 2207 (87.7%) of the RTA fatalities in Perak State. The analysis revealed a decreasing trend in RTA deaths from 2018 to 2021, with a remarkable Annual Percent Change (APC) of -25.1% in 2020 compared to the pre-pandemic year in 2019 and remained stable with lower APC in 2021. Comparison between pre-pandemic (2018-2019) and pandemic years (2020-2021) revealed a difference in the fatality distribution with a median age rise during the pandemic (37.7 (IQR: 22.96, 58.08) vs. 41.0 (IQR: 25.08, 61.00), p = 0.002). Vehicle profiles remained consistent, yet changes were observed in the involvement of various road users, where more motorcycle riders and pedestrian were killed during pandemic (p = 0.049). During pandemic, there was a decline in vehicle collisions, but slight increase of the non-collision accidents and incidents involving pedestrians/animals (p = 0.015). A shift in accident from noon till midnight were also notable during the pandemic (p = 0.028). YLL revealed differences by age and gender, indicating a higher YLL for females aged 30-34 during the pandemic.

CONCLUSION

The decline in RTA fatalities during COVID-19 pandemic underscores the influence of pandemic-induced restrictions and reduced traffic. However, demographic shifts, increased accident severity due to risky behaviors and gender-specific impacts on YLL, stress the necessity for improved safety interventions amidst evolving dynamics.

Burden of disease in Colombian Orinoquia Region, 2017

Background

Population health diagnoses are a fundamental tool to guide health policies and programs, and consequently, public health requirements. In this perspective, the burden of disease in inhabitants of Colombian Orinoquia is quantified for the first time.

Methods

A descriptive population-based study that was based on secondary sources was carried out, which aimed at measuring the burden of the disease in the Colombian region of Orinoquia, using the simplified synthetic indicator of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of the global health estimation methodology. We used mortality records from the National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE) and service provision records from the Ministry of Health and Social Protection of Colombia, both records from the year 2017, available on the Integrated Social Protection Information System.

Results

288,740.2 DALYs occurred (95% UI 210,714.6-382,948.8), with higher reports for men (59%); group of non-communicable diseases accounted for 62.3% of DALYs (179,993.6, 95% UI, 115,030.2-268,405.0), followed by external cause injuries group which contributed 24.6% (71,000.0, 95% UI, 25,638.1-134,013.1), and group of communicable, maternal, neonatal, and nutritional disorders which contributed 13.1% (37,746.0, 95% UI, 28,048.0-50,239.7). Interpersonal violence was the primary cause specific of DALYs with 9.8% of the burden, (28,290.0, 95% UI, 7,365.1-64,208.1).

Conclusions

Most DALYs in Orinoquia are produced by non-communicable diseases (NCD), largely caused by neoplasms and cardiovascular disease, which increased with age. However, when considered by specific cause of illness or injury, interpersonal violence is indicated as the main cause of DALYs, affecting mainly young men, possibly as an expression of social inequality, substance use, criminality, and insecurity. It is important to highlight that this region has been recognized as an area of armed conflict, drug trafficking, and poverty.