Trauma by traffic accident in elderly people: Risk factors and consequences

Abstract

Objective: to analyze cases of trauma caused by traffic accidents in elderly individuals assisted at a reference municipal emergency hospital in 2010 and 2011. Method: longitudinal retrospective study was developed at an emergency hospital and a Traffic Accidents Repression Station, with 524 elderly individuals. All variables were submitted for descriptive analysis. Risk of involvement in accidents, occurrence of injury and death were determined using relative risk. Results: a statistically significant association was found in accidents with injuries when motorcycles were the vehicle that ran over the individual. Associations were also found between men and the occurrence of accidents, injury and death, mainly among younger elderly individuals. Most of the 524 elderly individuals who suffered an accident were men, married and had elementary school level education. Of these, 78.6% presented with injuries, with the majority of them being pedestrians. Conclusion: among younger elderly individuals, the possibility of death as a result of the injury was 3.4 times higher in 2010.