Maxillofacial injuries among Brazilian children and adolescents victims of traffic accidents

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the prevalence of morbidity due to traffic accidents in children and adolescents and its relationship with maxillofacial injuries in the city of Campina Grande, Paraíba, Brazil. METHODS: This cross-sectional study analyzed 533 forensic reports of individuals aged 0-19 years, victims of external causes in Campina Grande, Brazil, in 2013. Data were collected through a form containing variables sex, age, day of week, time, type of traffic accident, injured body region, presence of fractures, maxillofacial and oral cavity injuries. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences software (SPSS) was used for data analysis. Prevalence ratios and confidence intervals at 95% were estimated with the chi-square test. RESULTS: There was predominance of males (75.0%) aged 15-19 years (65.0%), with association between sex and occurrence of traffic accidents (p <0.001). The afternoon shift recorded 36.7% of cases of accidents involving motorcyclists (55.0%). In 25.0% of cases, there were injuries on the head and 26.7% on the face. Head and face injuries were observed in 10.0% of patients, while maxillofacial and oral cavity injuries were present in 21.7% and 6.7%, respectively. There was an association between occurrence of accident and face injuries (p = 0.009). CONCLUSION: Traffic accidents affect mostly young male individuals, causing multiple injuries in different body areas, including maxillofacial and oral cavity injuries.