Children’s outcomes in road traffic accidents: challenges for personal injury assessment

Abstract Children represent a specific group of road traffic accident (RTA) victims. Performing a personal injury assessment (PIA) for a child presents a significant challenge, especially when assessing permanent disabilities and needs. However, medico-legal recommendations for PIA in such cases are lacking. The main objective of this study was to analyse the differences between children and a young- and middle-aged adult population of RTA victims to contribute to the development of relevant guidelines. Secondary objectives were to identify and characterise specifics of children’s posttraumatic damages regarding: (a) temporary and permanent outcomes; and (b) medico-legal damage parameters in the Portuguese context. We performed a retrospective study of RTA victims by comparing two groups (n = 114 each) matched for acute injury severity (SD = 0.01): G1 (children) and G2 (young- and middle-aged adults). Logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios. G1 presented a greater chance of evolving without or with less severe body, functional and situational outcomes (three-dimensional assessment methodology) and with lower permanent functional disability values than G2. Our findings suggest that childhood trauma generally has a better prognosis than trauma in young and middle-aged adults. This study generated evidence on the subject and highlighted the most significant difficulties encountered by medico-legal experts when performing PIA for children.