Comparing FARS-Reported Motor Vehicle Fatalities on Tribal and Non-Tribal Lands in the Pacific Northwest, 2010-2018

Presenter Biography

Jen is an intern with the Motor Vehicle Injury Data Team at Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board as she finishes her MPH in Epidemiology at OHSU-PSU School of Public Health. Before coming to NPAIHB, she served as a research assistant with the Center for Healthy Communities/Oregon PRC supporting Native STAND and other programs, and separately conducted supervised research on childhood adversity and intergenerational health. Prior to the MPH program, she worked for over a decade engaging and supporting local communities in watershed health. She earned a previous master's degree in science learning, assessment, and mixed methods research from PSU Center for Science Education, where she first became interested in interweaving traditional knowledge and/as science.

Institution

OHSU

Program/Major

Epidemiology

Degree

MPH

Presentation Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-7-2020 4:42 PM

End Date

4-7-2020 4:55 PM

Persistent Identifier

https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/33768

Keywords

American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN), geographic matching, ArcGIS, mixed effects, unintentional injury, traffic safety, motor vehicle fatality, prevention

Abstract

Approximately 7% of all American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) deaths are attributable to motor vehicle injury, compared to less than 2% of non-Hispanic white deaths. Motor vehicle injury is a priority health concern among the 43 Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) member tribes located in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. NPAIHB is investigating differences in motor vehicle injury fatalities that were reported on member tribal and non-tribal lands in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from 2010-2018. We account for the influence of confounding variables by geographically matching each NPAIHB tribal area with a non-tribal land area in ArcGIS based on size, land use/topography, road types and density, and located a minimum buffer distance away from tribal land boundaries. GIS layers were joined to FARS data to create tribal (n=422) and non-tribal (n=283) crash fatality datasets, paired by NPAIHB tribe. Paired differences were not statistically significant (Wilcoxon signed rank p=0.2434). 16% of tribal/non-tribal pairs had zero fatalities in 2010-2018. Multilevel/mixed effects models will be used to assess for differences in crash characteristics, including vehicle, driver, road, and environmental conditions. Results will be used to create and update tribal injury prevention programs, and published on NPAIHB’s NativeCARS.org tribal motor vehicle injury prevention website to enhance traffic safety planning.

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Apr 7th, 4:42 PM Apr 7th, 4:55 PM

Comparing FARS-Reported Motor Vehicle Fatalities on Tribal and Non-Tribal Lands in the Pacific Northwest, 2010-2018

Approximately 7% of all American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) deaths are attributable to motor vehicle injury, compared to less than 2% of non-Hispanic white deaths. Motor vehicle injury is a priority health concern among the 43 Northwest Portland Area Indian Health Board (NPAIHB) member tribes located in Idaho, Oregon and Washington. NPAIHB is investigating differences in motor vehicle injury fatalities that were reported on member tribal and non-tribal lands in the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) from 2010-2018. We account for the influence of confounding variables by geographically matching each NPAIHB tribal area with a non-tribal land area in ArcGIS based on size, land use/topography, road types and density, and located a minimum buffer distance away from tribal land boundaries. GIS layers were joined to FARS data to create tribal (n=422) and non-tribal (n=283) crash fatality datasets, paired by NPAIHB tribe. Paired differences were not statistically significant (Wilcoxon signed rank p=0.2434). 16% of tribal/non-tribal pairs had zero fatalities in 2010-2018. Multilevel/mixed effects models will be used to assess for differences in crash characteristics, including vehicle, driver, road, and environmental conditions. Results will be used to create and update tribal injury prevention programs, and published on NPAIHB’s NativeCARS.org tribal motor vehicle injury prevention website to enhance traffic safety planning.