EPIDEMIOLOGY OF TRAFFIC CRASHES IN A GENERAL HOSPITAL

In the study presented in this scientific poster, data have been collected on 1212 patients arriving in the Emergency Service of the "12 Octubre University Hospital" in Madrid, Spain due to car crashes from October to December 1996. Information was collected from records of car crashes, judicial reports and a personalized interview with some of these patients. Appropriate statistical analyses were conducted on a number of variables: age and sex of the patient, day of the week, rainfall, vehicle type (car/motorcycle), vehicle age, road type (urban versus rural), crash type, type and location of the injury, time taken to move the patient to the hospital, seat belt use or nonuse, and pedestrian injury. Some results are: (1) For this data set of drivers, men had more crashes than women; (2) Persons aged 20-24 years old are the most likely to be injured than other age groups; (3) This age group is overrepresented in crashes in weekends and in newer vehicles; (4)The largest number of injuries occur on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday; (5) Rear end collisions represent 57.4% of roadway crashes; (6) 59% of urban collisions are lateral impacts; (7) For car occupants, cervical sprains are the most frequent injury; and (8) 75% of the injured in urban areas were unrestrained. For the covering abstract of the conference see ITRD E203511.