The general objectives of this proposal are: (1) to establish a developmental center for injury prevention research at the College of Public Health, University of Oklahoma, in collaboration with the Oklahoma State Department of Health and other State and Federal partners, and (2) to use this center to conduct initial research, gather preliminary data, and submit a competetive proposal in the next competition to transition the center to a fully-funded Injury Control Research Center (ICRC) within DHHS Region 6 (which is currently not served by a CDC - funded ICRC). The project partners and stakeholders include the College of Medicine, the Oklahoma State Department of Health, CDC, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Association of Schools of Public Health, and the Oklahoma State Department of Transportation.
The specific aims are to update the systematic reviews of evidence for strategies for preventing death and injury from motor vehicle accidents, especially in adolescent (age 16-19) and young adult (age 20-25) drivers, to systematically review how alcohol use relates to injury from motor vehicle accidents in these age groups, to identify priorities for future research, and to identify areas of potential injury prevention research where the center at the University of Oklahoma can make unique contributions of relevance to the population of Oklahoma and DHHS Region 6. We have chosen to focus on motor vehicle accidents initially because they are a leading cause of death in the United States, and because Oklahoma has a high incidence of death and injury from motor vehicle accidents, with recent data suggesting an 11 % increase in fatalities in 2004 over the previous year. The center will plan and conduct two meetings of the project partners and stakeholders, one at the beginning and one at the end of the project period. Additional deliverables include an updated systematic review of evidence for strategies for preventing injury and death from motor vehicle accidents, specific review of the evidence for the high-risk groups of adolescent and young adult drivers, and updated systematic review on the role of alcohol use in motor vehicle acidents in adolescent and young adult drivers, white -papers outlining priorities for future research, and potential areas of unique research for the center at the University of Oklahoma, and presentation of the findings of the systematic reviews of evidence and white-papers at the meeting of the project partners and stakeholders at the end of the project period.
