Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33164113›Full record

ArticleWorld journal of surgery2021

Police Transportation Following Vehicular Trauma and Risk of Mortality in a Resource-Limited Setting.

Laura N Purcell, Gift Mulima, Emily Nip, Avital Yohan, Jared Gallaher, Anthony Charles

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in World journal of surgery, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
0.9field-weighted citation impact, top 23% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
  2. Article
  3. Bystander interventions and their impact on road injury outcomes: a scoping review.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2025
    Review
  4. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.

Laura N PurcellDepartment of Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA.
Gift MulimaKamuzu Central Hospital, Lilongwe, Malawi.
Emily NipUniversity of North Carolina Project, Lilongwe, Malawi.
Avital YohanDepartment of Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA.
Jared GallaherDepartment of Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA.
Anthony CharlesDepartment of Surgery, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, USA. anthchar@med.unc.edu.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · USKamuzu Central Hospital · MW

Funding

UJMT – ORWH – Gazzetta, Issa-BoubeD43TW009340 · FIC · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI William Checkley, Benjamin H. Chi · 2017 to 2026
$14.8M
TRAUMA RESEARCH FELLOWSHIPT32GM008450 · NIGMS · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI Bruce A Cairns, Anthony G Charles · 1992 to 2026
$3.8M
FIC NIH HHS D43 TW009340FIC NIH HHS D43TW009340NIGMS NIH HHS T32 GM008450
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundIn resource-limited settings, prehospital trauma care and transportation from the scene to a hospital is not well developed. Critically injured patients present to the hospital via privately owned vehicles (PV), public transportation, or the police. We aimed to determine the mortality following road traffic injury based on the mode of transportation to our trauma center.

methodsWe performed a retrospective analysis of the Kamuzu Central Hospital (KCH) Trauma Registry from January 2011 to May 2018. Patients with road traffic injuries, presenting from the scene, were included. Those brought in dead or discharged from casualty were excluded. Bivariate analysis was performed over mortality. A Poisson multivariate regression determined the relative risk of mortality by prehospital transportation.

results2853 patients were included; 7.8% (n = 223) died. Patients were transported by PV (n = 1963, 68.8%), minibus (n = 497, 17.4%), and police (268, 9.4%). No patients were transported by ambulance. Patients transported by police (1 h, IQR 0-2) and PV (1 h, IQR 0-2), arrived earlier than those transported by minibus (2 h, IQR 0-27), p < 0.001. There was no difference in injury severity between the transportation cohorts. Compared to PV, patients transported by police (RR 1.56, 95% CI 1.13-2.17, p = 0.008) have an increased risk of mortality after controlling for injury severity. There was no difference in mortality in patients presenting by minibus (RR 0.83, 95% CI 0.55-1.24, p = 0.4).

conclusionPatients transported to KCH via police have a higher risk of mortality than those transported via private vehicle after controlling for injury severity. Training police in basic life support may be an initial target of intervention in reducing trauma mortality. Overall, the creation of a functional prehospital ambulance system with a cadre of paramedics is necessary for both trauma and non-trauma patients alike. This can only be achieved by training all stakeholders, the police, public transport drivers, and the public at large.

Indexed as

Emergency Medical ServicesWounds and InjuriesAmbulancesHumansInjury Severity ScorePoliceRetrospective StudiesTransportation of PatientsTrauma Centers

Identifiers

PMID33164113
PMCPMC7856211
OpenAlexW3101153054

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.