Severity of occupational injuries treated in emergency services.
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the severity of occupational injuries and associated factors.


METHODS
Longitudinal study performed in the city of Salvador, Northeastern Brazil, with all 406 occupational injury cases treated in two emergency rooms of public hospitals, between June and August 2005. Participants were identified during admission to the emergency room and interviewed monthly in their homes, until returning to work or ending the treatment. Severity was defined by the Abbreviated Injury Scale, used to calculate scores from the Injury Severity Score. Hospital lethality and mortality, and length of inpatient and intensive care unit (ICU) stay were estimated. Descriptive variables were sex, age, economic field of activity and occupation. Proportions, proportion ratios and confidence intervals were used for statistical inference and mean, and the Student t test for normal continuous variables.


RESULTS
The majority of the 406 cases had a mild (39.4%) and moderate severity (38.7%), followed by serious (17.2%), severe (3.2%) and critical severity (1.5%). Overall lethality was 0.7% and 5.0% among those who stayed for inpatient treatment (14.8%), whereas mean length of inpatient stay was 3.2 days (SD=2.8). A total of three cases (0.7%) required ICU (mean=8.4 days, SD=1.2). The majority of serious cases occurred among men and those older than 37 years of age. Injuries among transport (PR=2.20; 90% CI: 1.06;4.58) and retail workers (PR=1.85; 90% CI: 1.14;3.00) were more serious than those in the reference group. Proportion of serious injuries was 54% higher among commuting accidents than among typical ones. In all, there were 325 days of inpatient stay and 34 days of ICU stay.


CONCLUSIONS
Severity of occupational injuries was high, especially those occurring among transport and retail workers, thus affecting emergency services and hospital bed and ICU occupancy.
Programa Integrado em Saúde Ambiental e do Trabalhador, Instituto de Saúde Coletiva, Universidade Federal da Bahia, Salvador, BA, Brasil. vilma@ufba.br
Vilma Sousa
VS
Santana
Cibele
C
Xavier
Maria Claudia Peres
MC
Moura
Rosane
R
Oliveira
Jônatas Silva
JS
Espírito-Santo
Gustavo
G
Araújo
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D004632:Emergency Medical Services; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D015601:Injury Severity Score; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009784:Occupational Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D055815:Young Adult