title: Pediatric trauma due to motor vehicle accidents on high traffic roadway.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To outline a profile of pediatric trauma victims and verify the likelihood of trauma in children on a high traffic roadway.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive cohort study of the records of emergency medical service activations on the Rio-Niterói Bridge, a high traffic roadway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Descriptive statistics were expressed as absolute and relative frequencies. The estimated risk of trauma in children aged < 12 years was calculated by means of odds ratios, with a 95% confidence interval.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Trauma accounted for 514 of 1,244 activations (41.31%) of the Rio-Niterói Bridge emergency medical service between March 2002 and March 2003. Response to incidents involving children aged < 12 years accounted for 52 of these (4.18%). Half of victims were between the ages of 6 and 12 years (n = 26), and 55.76% were male (n = 29). Of the 52 victims, 37 (71.15%) were involved in motor vehicle accidents (OR: 3.70; 95% CI: 1.94-7.13; p < 0.0001). Of these, 28 were vehicle-vehicle collisions (75.67%). The most common sites of injury were the extremities (n = 12; 32.43%), face (n = 10; 27.02%), and head (n = 9; 24.32%). Pre-hospital procedures were performed on 23 of the 37 patients (62.16%), and 44.23% (n = 23/52) required hospital transportation. There were no deaths during the study period.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, children were at significantly higher odds of being treated for trauma while on a highway with heavy traffic flow. The most common sites of injury in this sample were the lower extremities and the head, face, and neck complex.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal Fluminense - UFF, Niterói (RJ), Brazil. ifigueiredo@id.uff.br
authors.forename: Israel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Figueiredo Júnior
authors.forename: Mauricio Vidal
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: de Carvalho
authors.forename: Glaucia Macedo
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: de Lima
mesh_terms: D000063:Accidents, Traffic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D057207:Child Restraint Systems / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015331:Cohort Studies; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004632:Emergency Medical Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007869:Leg Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D012306:Risk; D012622:Seat Belts / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014187:Transportation of Patients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014505:Urban Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology*