Persian Traffic Health and Safety Cohort study is a population-based cohort study which has been designed for a 30-year period. The study performance has been projected in 6-month, 3-year, 10-year and 15-year periods and in Tabriz, Shabestar, Jolfa, and Osku cities of Islamic Republic of Iran. Three dimensions of human-, vehicle- and road- related factors are being studied in this cohort study. This study considered human factor in whole traffic roles including: driver, motorcycle rider, bicycle rider, passenger, pillion, and pedestrian. More importantly, given all the roles, this study has no restrictions on gender, age, or occupation, and the whole family enters the study. A considerable point is that all the family members will be enrolled, not just drivers. Regarding the long-lasting feature of the study (30 years), childhood and adolescence characteristics that would lead to traffic problems in adulthood will be thoroughly studied. They can also be expanded to gather important information about behaviors or particular health conditions.
The study consists of two main parts: the first part is the pre-crash part and the second part is the post-crash part. In the pre-crash part, the factors affecting the occurrence of accidents (human, vehicle and road / environment) and traffic injuries are studied. Pre-crash assessments include field assessments, physical health clinician assessments, psychiatric clinic assessments, para-clinical assessments, traffic laboratory assessments, vehicle clinic assessments, and road-related assessments.
Field assessments are performed at two levels: household level measurements and individual level measurements. In household level measurements, basic information and socioeconomic status of the household are evaluated. In individual level assessments, the mental health status, landuse information, quality of life and traffic behavior of the person according to his role in the traffic environment are considered. In Clinical assessments of Physical Health, aspects related to physical health affecting traffic safety, including neurological, psychological, musculoskeletal, hearing, vision, etc., are examined. All examinations and interviews are performed by a general practitioner, occupational therapist, psychiatrist, and clinical psychologist. If necessary, other clinical specialists will also join the team for examinations. All study measurements will be done for free. In para-clinical assessments, people are tested for the factors effects on traffic safety, including AIC, CBC, LDL, TG, and so on. In the individual level assessments, history of accident based on international classification of diseases version 10 (ICD-10) is collected as well.
Regarding the advanced facilities available at the Traffic Accident Management and Prevention Research Center, individuals, in addition to physical health-related assessments, are concerned with mental-psychological skills and abilities or driving-related problems through a driving simulator, Vienna Test System, eye tracker, and brain function assessment.
As mentioned, in this section of the study, in addition to humans, vehicle and roads are also studied. In terms of vehicle, basic car information such as type and model, safety status information, traffic pattern and other car-related information are studied so that the study can provide key answers about the role of different aspects of car safety in accidents or injury severity. In addition to evaluating the cars of all the people studied in terms of safety and traffic as self-reporting, due to the limited budget of the equipment, a number of drivers will be provided with equipment measuring the safety performance of that vehicle and its driver’s driving behavior.
In term of road, basic road information such as shoulder width, length and condition, traffic flow/volume, user, production/development, infrastructure, and maintenance information are studied. All measurements will be repeated for at least one quarter and up to one year. Certainly, findings of the Persian Traffic Health and Safety Cohort Study will make all people have a healthier and more productive life by reducing the amount and severity of traffic accidents by benefiting from the safety of transportation.