Maryam A Abu Al Saud, Hassan El Abdin.
Effect of Seat Belt Law on the incidence, etiology, and severity of Maxillofacial injuries in eastern province, Saudi Arabia: a four year retrospective study.
J Pak Dent Assoc Jan ;12(3):170-5.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study is to compare, retrospectively, the incidence, etiology and severity of maxillofacial injuries two years before and after the obligatory implementation of the safety seat belt law in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. PATIENTS AND METHODS: All 187 cases of maxillofacial trauma during the period extending from December 20, 1998 to November 6th, 2002 were collected from the admission records, discharge books, operating room registry of Dammam Central Hospital. RESULTS: Results were discussed according to the gender, age, etiology, time and site of injury, and duration of hospitalization. The data were analyzed using the statistical software system (SPSS). The Chi square test was used to test the statistical significance. CONCLUSION: It was concluded that the seat belt had a noticeable but not significant effect on the incidence of maxillofacial injuries resulting from road traffic accidents (RTAs). However, it had a significant effect on the severity of these injuries. The effect of seat belt on the incidence, severity, pattern of injuries, age and gender of patients is discussed.

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