title: [Characteristics of traffic accidents and victims treated through a pre-hospital service in a city in southern Brazil, 1997/2000].
abstract: Traffic accidents and the resulting injury and trauma constitute an important social and public health problem. The objective of this study was to analyze the characteristics of such accidents and the victims treated by the only pre-hospital service -- the Integrated Trauma and Emergency Aid Service (SIATE) -- in the city of Londrina, Paraná State, southern Brazil, from 1997 to 2000. All victims (14,474) registered in the SIATE database were studied. The majority (> 70.0%) were male and aged 10 to 39 years. Motorcyclists were the most frequent victims (> 40.0%), and accidents occurred most frequently in December, on weekends (especially Saturdays), and at night. These results are consistent with those of other studies showing the need to implement preventive measures targeting young males, especially motorcyclists.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Estadual de Londrina, Londrina, Brazil. yaragerber@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Yara Gerber Lima
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Bastos
authors.forename: Selma Maffei de
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Andrade
authors.forename: Darli Antônio
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Soares
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data