Motor Vehicle Deaths among Men: Marital Status, Gender and Social Integration

The social side of accidental death

Mortality from unintentional injuries, or accidents, represents major and understudied causes of death in the United States. Epidemiological studies show social factors, such as socioeconomic and marital status, relate with accidental death. But social theories posit a central role for social statuses on mortality risk, stipulating greater relevance for causes of death that have been medically determined to be more preventable than others. These bodies of work are merged to examine deaths from unintentional injuries using 20years of nationally representative survey data, linked to prospective mortality. Results indicate that socially disadvantaged persons were significantly more likely to die from the most preventable and equally likely to die from the least preventable accidental deaths over the follow-up, compared to their more advantaged counterparts. This study extends our knowledge of the social contributors to a leading cause of death that may have substantial implications on overall disparities in length of life.

Factors related to seatbelt-wearing among rear-seat passengers in Malaysia

The benefit of wearing a rear seatbelt in reducing the risk of motor vehicle crash-related fatalities and injuries has been well documented in previous studies. Wearing a seatbelt not only reduces the risk of injury to rear-seat passengers, but also reduces the risk of injury to front-seat occupant who could be crushed by unbelted rear-seat passengers in a motor vehicle crash. Despite the benefits of wearing a rear seatbelt, its rate of use in Malaysia is generally low. The objective of this study was to identify factors that are associated with the wearing of a seatbelt among rear-seat passengers in Malaysia. Multinomial logistic regression analysis of the results of a questionnaire survey of 1651 rear-seat passengers revealed that rear-seat passengers who were younger, male, single and less educated and who had a perception of a low level of legislation enforcement, a lower risk-aversion and less driving experience (only for passengers who are also drivers) were less likely to wear a rear seatbelt. There was also a significant positive correlation between driver seatbelt and rear seatbelt-wearing behaviour. This implies that, in regards to seatbelt-wearing behaviour, drivers are more likely to adopt the same seatbelt-wearing behaviour when travelling as rear-seat passengers as they do when driving. These findings are crucial to the development of new interventions to increase the compliance rate of wearing a rear seatbelt.