Economic burden of road traffic injuries in Sub-Saharan Africa: a systematic review of existing literature

Objective: This systematic review aims to explore and synthesize existing literature on the direct and indirect costs from RTIs in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), the quality of existing evidence, methods used to estimate and report these costs, and the factors that drive the costs.

Methodology: MEDLINE, SCOPUS, ProQuest Central, Web of Science, Global Index Medicus, Embase, World Bank Group e-Library, Econlit, Google Scholar, and WHO webpages were searched for relevant literature. References of selected papers were also examined for related articles. Screening was done following the PRISMA guidelines. Articles were included in this review if they: were published by March 2019, written in English, conducted in SSA, and reported original findings on the cost of illness or economic burden of RTIs. The results were systematically examined, and the quality assessed by two reviewers using a modified CHEERS checklist.

Results: Eleven studies met the inclusion criteria. RTIs can cost between INT$119-178,634 per injury and INT$486-12,845 per hospitalization. Findings show variability in costing methods and inadequacies in the quality of existing evidence. Prolonged hospital stays, surgical sundries, and severity of injury were the most common factors associated with cost.

Conclusion: While available data is limited, evidence shows that the economic burden of RTIs in SSA is high. Poor quality of existing evidence and heterogeneity in costing methods limit the generalisability of costs reported.