Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42204720›Full record

ArticleScandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine2026

Global inventory and audit of road injury data systems: a descriptive study using the Road Injury Chain of Survival Framework.

Tim Nutbeam, Emily Foote, Lauren R Rodgers, Rob Fenwick, Willem Stassen

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. 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

5 authors.

Tim NutbeamIMPACT: Centre for Post-Collision Research, Innovation and Translation, Devon Air Ambulance, Exeter, UK. timnutbeam@nhs.net.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0814-9240
Emily FooteUniversity Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Plymouth, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0006-3699-3122
Lauren R RodgersIMPACT: Centre for Post-Collision Research, Innovation and Translation, Devon Air Ambulance, Exeter, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5040-3073
Rob FenwickIMPACT: Centre for Post-Collision Research, Innovation and Translation, Devon Air Ambulance, Exeter, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8340-3109
Willem StassenDivision of Emergency Medicine, Department of Family, Community and Emergency Care, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundRoad injury causes an estimated 1.19 million deaths annually and tens of millions of non-fatal injuries worldwide. Despite this burden, post-collision data remain fragmented across police, transport, and health sectors, impeding system-level improvement. The recently proposed Road Injury Chain of Survival framework provides a structure for mapping data needs across five sequential links: Early Recognition, Early Rescue, Early Initial Care, Early Transport, and Early Hospital Care & Rehabilitation. This study aims to identify and describe national and major regional road injury datasets worldwide and to assess their coverage against a novel RICS-derived sub-indicator framework.

methodsA structured, descriptive global audit was undertaken to identify and characterise national and major regional road injury datasets. Searches included government and institutional portals, international repositories, and peer-reviewed literature. Eligible datasets provided national or nationally aggregated information on road traffic collisions, injuries, or trauma care. Each dataset was assessed against 20 sub-indicators (four per chain link) using a three-point coding system: 1 (present), 0.5 (partial/proxy), 0 (absent), or U (unverified).

resultsA total of 349 national and major regional road injury data systems were identified worldwide, representing 357 datasets after disaggregation of linked systems. Police crash databases were the most common data source across all income groups and were near-universal in low-income countries. Mortality-focused datasets predominated in lower-income countries while higher-income countries demonstrated greater diversity, including emergency medical services, fire and rescue, and trauma registry data. Formal cross-sector data linkage was rare, and most datasets were available only in aggregated form. Mapping to the Road Injury Chain of Survival showed that data were most frequently available for Early Recognition, with substantially less coverage for the remaining links in the chain.

conclusionsThis global audit of road injury datasets reveals extensive fragmentation across the post-collision care continuum. Few systems link crash, rescue, prehospital, and hospital data, severely limiting opportunities for quality improvement and outcome evaluation. Development of harmonised, interoperable datasets aligned with the Road Injury Chain of Survival is essential to enable benchmarking, guide investment, and improve outcomes from road injury worldwide. PRE-REGISTERED: Open Science Framework: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/VXE6S.

Indexed as

Accidents, TrafficWounds and InjuriesDatabases, FactualGlobal HealthHumansEmergency medical servicesHealth system mappingInjury surveillanceRoad traffic injuryTrauma registries

Identifiers

PMID42204720
PMCPMC13397626

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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.