The characterization of traffic accidents involving children and adolescents admitted to a public tertiary hospital

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the factors related to traffic accidents involving children and adolescents admitted to a public tertiary hospital in Fortaleza and the level of knowledge of their parents or guardians about the rights of injured. The studied variables were those related to the victims (age, sex, schooling, and family income), on the type and the injuries resulting from the accident and the degree of knowledge about the rights of injured Methods: It was a descriptive, observational, and quantitative study, which sample consisted of 45 inpatients. Results: Males prevailed [33 (73.3%)]. The age group was from 1 to 17 years old, distributed in a similar way, with 30 (66.6%) victims in Primary School, with a family income of 1.6 minimum wages, and 25 (55.6%) coming from the countryside. As for the type of accident, running over prevailed, accounting for 29 (64.4%) victims, guilt being attributed to others in 17 (37.8%) cases. The diagnosis of cranioencephalic trauma and/or of members was the main one [20 (40%)]. Regarding the victims’ parents or guardians, 38 (84%) did not know about the existence of the insurance of Personal Damage Caused by Automobiles, which they are entitled to receive; and 31 (71%) had not been previously introduced to any accident prevention campaign. Conclusion: In the studied sample, the accidents mainly occurred by running over, with cranioencephalic trauma, and the victims and their family are unaware of some of the rights of injured.