Road
traffic accidents are the leading
cause of death by
trauma. Delays in in
first aid due, inter alia, to the long
time to transfer
traffic accident victims to
hospital and the lack of pre-
hospital emergency care, contribute to the increase
in hospital mortality. This study aims to analyse the
referral conditions for severe road
traffic injuries and to assess their effect on the occurrence of
hospital deaths in
Benin. This is an analytical prospective
cohort study conducted in road
accident victims with a severe
injury. Four groups of factors were studied
referral conditions, sociodemographic and victim-specific characteristics, factors related to the
accident environment, and factors related to
health services. A top-down binary stepwise
logistic regression was the basis for the analyses. Nine point eight percent of severe
trauma patients died after
hospital admission (7.0-13.5). Associated factors were
referral time greater than 1 hour (RR=5.7 [1.5-20.9]), transport to
hospital by
ambulance (RR=4.8 [1.3-17.3]) and by the
police or
fire department (RR=7.4 [1.8- 29.7]), not wearing protective
equipment (RR=4.5 [1.4-15.0]),
head injuries (RR=34.8 [8.7-139.6]), and no
upper extremity injuries (RR=20.1 [2.3-177.1]). To reduce the
risk of
hospital death in severe road
traffic injuries, it is important to ensure rapid and medicalized
referral of severe
trauma patients in
Benin.