Abstract

WAISMAN, INGRID; NUNEZ, JOSE M.  and  SANCHEZ, JAVIER. Epidemiology of Accidents in the región of Central Cuyo. Rev. bol. ped. [online]. 2002, vol.41, n.2, pp.87-94. ISSN 1024-0675.

Introduction. Accidents are the first cause of death in children older than 1 year, and they represent an important cause of morbidity, sequelae and resource expenses. Although there are figures of deaths by accidents and patients hospitalized, it is very difficult to register all injured patients data. Objectives. To find out accident prevalence, to describe their characteristics, to determine if there is an association between these variables and the possibility of having accidents. Material & methods. The population studied were all patients from 0 to 14 years old assisted with accidental injuries in 17 emergency services in the provinces of Córdoba, Mendoza, La Rioja, San Juan and San Luis during August and December 1998 . The analyzed variables were: age, sex, place of occurrence, kind of accident, location, seriousness, medical conduct, type of hospital and season. Prevalence was estimated dividing injured patients by the whole population of assisted children. T-Student and ANOVA tests were performed for continued variables. Non parametric tests, for discrete variables; Chi square test for dichotomic and cathegoric variables. Results. 45,206 patients were assisted. 3,862 injuried. Incidence: 8.5 %. There were 2,428 males (62,9%) and 1,434 females (37.1 %). Mean age was 5,64 years. 256 patients were under 1 year, 1,563 between 1 to 4, 1,247 between 5 to 9 and 795 between 10 to 14 years. Occurrence place: home: 2,004 (51.9 %); street: 1,252 (32.4%). Body: head 1,785, arms and legs 1,566. 72.4 % of injuries were mild, 26.6% moderate, and 1%, severe. 88.4% of these children were managed as outpatients, and the remaing ones required hospitalization. Incidence was statistically different between the two periods (OR 2,21) and also between big and medium hospitals. The most frequent accidents in all ages were fallings (2,505); burns predominated in children under 1 year, poisoning among children aged 1 to 4, and traffic accidents increased with age and were most frequent in big hospitals (p< 0.1). Conclusions. This study was useful to analyze prevalence and to characterize injuries. The 1 to 4 years age group was the most affected. The home was the most frequent occurrence place. There were seasonal variation and differences between the assistance centers. Traffic accidents increased with age.

Keywords : accidents; epidemiology; childhood.

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