Accidents and violence in childhood: survey evidence of emergency care for external causes - Brazil, 2009

Understanding the characteristics and magnitude of accidents and violence due to external causes in children from 0 to 9 years of age is becoming ever more important in Public Health. The scope of this paper was to analyze emergency care for accidents due to external causes in children. The Sentinel Urgency and Emergency Services of the Violence and Accident Vigilance System (VIVA Survey), performed in 74 urgency services in the Federal District and 23 State capitals in 2009 was used. Data of 7,123 children were analyzed: 6,897 (96.7%) victims of accidents and 226 (3.3%) of violence. In comparison with victims of violence, the visits for accidents were more frequent among white children from 2 to 5 years old occurring in the home (p < 0.05). Among the accidents, falls and burns predominated in the 0 to 1group, while traffic accidents were most frequent in the 6 to 9-year-old age group (p < 0.001). With respect to violence, the visits for neglect and physical assault predominated, respectively, in extreme age groups, with someone in the family being the perpetrator (p < 0.001). Information on the occurrence of external causes in children may support health promotion policies, besides guiding health professionals, teachers and families in the prevention of such causes.