Epidemiological Approach to Mortal Lesions-Traffic Accident in Yara Municipality, 2007, Cuba

Abstract

Nowadays, it is estimated that 50% of patients with encephalic traumatic injuries have been involved in traffic accidents. 63% of them are young adults, with ages from 15 and 24 years, and 34% are 1 to 4 year-old children. The existence of proper legislations addressing the risk factors could help reduce the number of dead and injured from traffic accidents. Encephalic traumatic injury is the leading cause of death in these patients, 50 to 75% according to the statistics. This is supported by the fact that in the United States, for instance, the mortality for traumatic brain lesions caused by car accidents in the decade from 1982 to 1992, exceeded the number of dead on the battlefields during the wars in that nation ́s history. The human factor has been responsible for 90% of these accidents [1-4].