Injuries account for 10% of all mortality and 11-16% of all morbidity worldwide, and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are disproportionately affected. With recent migration and transportation trends in LMICs, the incidence of fatalities due to injury, especially road traffic injuries, is projected to increase further in these regions if no preventative action is taken. A useful step in planning injury prevention interventions is to determine the geographic distribution of injuries. Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping methods can identify geographic areas of high injury prevalence, guide an evaluation of environmental characteristics that make certain locations more dangerous, and enable location-specific injury prevention programs.

Mentor: Teri Reynolds, MD, PhD, MS