Use of mobile phones while driving and resultingfacial injuries

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to give an overview of drivers use of mobile phones while driving and its role in motor vehicle crashes and subsequent facial injuries. 200 patients who were either drivers or passengers involved in facial injuries as a result of road traffic crashes between January 2008 and November 2008 were included in this study. They were seen in the Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Khyber College of Dentistry, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. All relevant informations were collected on a specially designed Proforma and analysed using SPSS version 17. Male outnumbered female with a male to female ratio of 61. Passengers were injured more frequently [60%] as compared to the drivers [40%]. 32 drivers [40%] out of 80 had used mobile phone at the time of accident. Among those drivers [n=32] who had used mobile phone at the time of accident, the 3rd decade was the most commonly involved age group followed by 2nd decade. Mandible was the most common bone involved in 46.88% of the cases followed by Zygomatic complex fractures [21.88%].This study has highlighted the problem of road traffic injuries among drivers and passengers asa serious public health problem. Mobile phone users commit more errors and lapses than non-mobilephone users. It seems that cellular mobile phone bring extra workload to memory and share attention sources, which causes accidents by distracting the attention of drivers