title: [Traffic accidents in a metropolitan area of southern Brazil--victim and lesion characterization].
abstract: Casualties treated in a Emergency Hospital of Porto Alegre, Brazil, during the year 1988, for injuries received as a result of traffic accidents, are described by means of a retrospective study of the data provided by the Documentation and Statistics Sector of the hospital (n = 6.099). The results, similar to those described in the literature, draw special attention to the predominance of the male sex (69.2%), to the concentration of accidents involving individuals of between 20 and 39 years of age, inclusive, (52%) and to the frequency which the head is injured (49.6%) of the patients. Severe injuries such as bruises and fractures were found, respectively, in 61.5% and 24.2% of the patients. The data reveal, further, the large number and the seriousness of the injuries caused by accidents involving pedestrians which accounted for 32.7% of the total number of attendances related to traffic accidents, 57.2% of hospital internments; 54.6% of the victims of this kind of accident were under 9 years of age and 42.8% were over 60.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Social, Faculdade de Medicina, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Ott
authors.forename: A L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Favaretto
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Neto
authors.forename: J G
authors.initials: JG
authors.lastname: Zechin
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bordin
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000401:mortality / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003288:Contusions / Q000453:epidemiology; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014505:Urban Population
vernacular_title: Acidentes de trânsito em área metropolitana da região sul do Brasil--caracterização da vítima e das lesões.