Crash severity modelling using ordinal logistic regression approach.

Road traffic accident is one of the major problems facing the world. The carnage on Ghana's roads has raised road accidents to the status of a 'public health' threat. The objective of the study is to identify factors that contribute to accident severity using an ordinal regression model to fit a suitable model using the dataset extracted from the database of Motor Traffic and Transport Department, from 1989 to 2019. The results of the ordinal logistic regression analyses show that the nature of cars, National roads, over speeding, and location (urban or rural) are significant indicators of crash severity. Strategies to reduce crash injuries should physical enforcement through greater Police presence on our roads as well as technology. There is also the need to train drivers to be more vigilant in their travels especially on the national roads and in the urban areas. The Recommendation is, a well thought out and contextualised written laws and sanctioned schemes to monitor and enforce strict compliance with road traffic rules should be put in place.

Does concurrent chemoradiotherapy preceded by chemotherapy improve survival in locally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer patients? Experience from Ghana.

BACKGROUND: To find out how chemotherapy given prior to concurrent chemoradiotherapy compares with concurrent chemoradiation alone in the treatment of locally advanced nasopharyngeal cancer. METHODS: Patient charts were examined and found to have submitted to one of two regimes as follows: Neoadjuvant chemotherapy consisting of Cisplatin and 5-fluorouracil followed by concurrent chemoradiotherapy with cisplatin (group1), or concurrent cisplatin based chemoradiotherapy only (group 2). Radiation treatment dose of 70Gy in 35 fractions was given in each group. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients were evaluated with 68% male. Stage 4 disease comprised 83%, WHO type 3 was the commonest histologic type (53.2%). Median follow up period was 20 months (4-129). The 3-year overall survival for group 1 was 52.1%, and for group 2:65.7% (p = 0.47). The 3-year disease free survival for group 1 was 61.4, and 81.4% for group 2 (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: The study revealed that concurrent chemoradiation alone yields better disease free survival compared to chemotherapy given prior to it. There is however no difference in overall survival between the two regimes.