Disability on the road: road traffic accidents and disability in the Bono and Ahafo Regions of Ghana

Abstract

Road accidents are a major concern for all around the world which is not limited to any geographical location. It is estimated that, 1.2 million people die from Road Accidents annually around the world with between 20 – 50 million injuries and disabilities. As more and more governments around the world and Ghana in particular are injecting lot of resources into road traffic management, perhaps one area that has received less attention is the resulting disabilities associated with RTDs. Methodologically, this research combined both quantitative and qualitative approaches with ambidirectional research design. The research included a sample of 337 respondents drawn from a database of 2,021 reported cases of road accident injuries to three major hospitals in the Ahafo, Bono and Bono East regions of Ghana namely: St. John of God Hospital (Duayaw Nkwanta), Sunyani Regional Hospital (Sunyani) and Holy Family Hospital (Techiman). This sample was drawn purposively based on inclusion criteria and data was gathered through telephone interview to identify the number of people who ended up with disability at the end of their treatments. Those who ended up with disability were further contacted for a face-to-face interview to identify their psychological and economic challenges and their coping strategies. The research found out that, 9 out of the 334 respondents ended up with impairments representing a prevalence rate of 2.69% of all injuries resulting in disability. Through further interviews, it was realized that, accident victims who have become disabled scored an average of 37.91 (43.08%) when measured on the Impact of Event Scare-Revised, which is far higher than the recommended 33 signifying higher levels of psychological stress. Again, victims spent an average of GH 20,000.00 on their injury treatments with major economic difficulties resulting from their disability. It further identified religious and interpersonal copings as the major coping strategies employed by disable RTA victims. The researcher thus recommends concerted efforts from stakeholders at reducing RTAs with major interventions aimed at alleviating the plight of disabled RTA victims