Colton Halverson2025-10-022025-10-022019-05-06https://dspace.ughe.org/handle/123456789/1031Among young people aged 15 to 29, road traffic accidents (RTAs) are the leading cause of death globally. Available data shows the distribution of RTAs is disproportionately high in low and middle-income countries (LMICs). In Rwanda, RTAs is the number one condition requiring surgery, most of which are males (Muhirwa, 2016). Rwanda has implemented relevant initiatives to combat the burden of RTAs through initiatives addressing public transportation and pedestrians. However, research is not a priority and often outdated. Updated statistics are vital for providing evidence to inform decisions at the policy level. Methodology: To provide updated measures on the incidence of RTAs from CHUK emergency department, a cross-sectional study design was used to compare statistics from a 2005 study titled “Road Traffic Injuries at CHUK”. Data was extracted from hospital archive records and stratified monthly from January to December of 2018. Variables extract mirrored the descriptive study conducted in 2005 (age, sex, residence, type of transport, type of injury). The study then used descriptive statistics to compare variables from 2005 and 2018. Results: From the sample size of 252 records, 34.1% were in the age group of 16 and 30. Males made up the majority of RTAs for both studies, 78.7% in 2005 and 72.2% in 2018. Motorcycles (37.3%), pedestrians (36%), and bicycles (13.5%) ranked highest for RTAs in 2018. Referrals from provinces outside of Kigali city limits increased from 9.8% in 2005 data to 38.5% in 2018. RTAs from motor vehicles dropped to 9.5% compared to 40.7% in 2005. RTAs from minibuses 5 Capstone Practicum Report also dropped from 15.2% in 2005 to 0% in 2018. Lower limb and head injuries remained high for both studies. In 2005 head injuries equaled 29.4% and lower limbs equaled 14.4%. Data from 2018 show head injuries at 30.2% and lower limbs increased to 27.8%. Poly-trauma results showed abdomen and limbs to have decreased from 34.3% in 2005 to 0% in 2018. Discussion and Conclusion: Rwandan initiatives beginning in 2013 appear to have made an impact on RTAs for minibuses and buses within Kigali. However, RTAs from motorcycles, pedestrians and bicycles has remained unchanged. Current initiatives need to consider these modes of transportation an important focal point if the burden for RTAs in Rwanda is to improve amongst these demographics. Furthermore, national surgical strategies could improve Rwanda’s shortage of staff and resources in district hospitals and reduce wait time for operations, potentially saving lives. Study limitations include changes in either terminology or definition, rendering the data sets incomparable and low sample size, which could have helped define inconsistent results in this study. For future studies, a qualitative portion reporting road user experience could provide further perspective on the long-term effects of RTAs and opinions of available emergency/surgical services.enYoungRoad TrafficAccidentTransportationVehiclesInjurySurgerytext::thesis