Hospital evolution of those involved in motorcycle accidents in the interior of Bahia

Abstract

Introduction: Traffic accidents are a public health problem resulting in deaths or injuries on public roads, with motorcycles being the most common cause of morbidity and mortality. This study is justified by the magnitude of accidents involving motorcycles and aims to describe the evolution of individuals treated for motorcycle accidents in a general hospital in Bahia from 2013 to 2017. Materials and methods: descriptive and cross-sectional study, with secondary data from the medical records of individuals involved in motorcycle accidents. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version 21, using descriptive statistics, and were submitted to the Research Ethics Committee of the State University of Southwest Bahia and approved under opinion 1,461,993/2016. Results: 1,717 individuals were identified, 85.7% of whom were men, 35.7% were between 19 and 29 years old, 82.4% were brown, 88.8% had no occupational information and 49.9% lived in Jequié. According to the characteristics of the accidents, 26.2% of the cases occurred on Sundays, 9.7% in March, 26% in 2016 and 34.6% at night. 72.2% presented infection, 5.8% were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit and 91.7% were discharged. The average hospital stay was 10.8 days. Discussion: the high frequency of motorcycle accidents results in a great social impact, being more prevalent in populations frequently exposed to risk behaviors. Final considerations: it is essential to raise awareness among the population about preventing traffic accidents, and to adopt control, inspection, penalization and education measures, in order to reduce the impacts on quality of life, the economy and public health.

Keywords: Traffic Accidents; Hospital Assistance; Epidemiology; Clinical Evolution; Motorcycles.