Fatores associados ao óbito por lesões de trânsito em Rodovias Federais do Nordeste Brasileiro.

Abstract

The objective of this study is to characterize traffic injuries and identify factors associated with fatalities on federal highways in Northeast Brazil. The method used was an epidemiological, observational, ecological study using secondary data on traffic accidents on Brazilian federal highways. The exposure variables were: sex, age, federative unit, type of accident, severity, type of vehicle, cause of the accident, time of occurrence, day of the week, and weather conditions at the time of the accident. The outcome variable was death. Descriptive analysis was performed with proportions and their confidence intervals, chi-square test, and logistic regression analysis to identify factors associated with fatalities. The measure of association was the odds ratio (OR).In 2021, the highest proportion of individuals involved in traffic injuries in the Northeast were male (71.51%; 95% CI: 0.71-0.72), aged between 31 and 60 years (54.94%; 95% CI: 0.54-0.55), in the state of Bahia (25.92%; 95% CI: 0.25-0.26), during the day (53.57%; 95% CI: 0.53-0.54), under weather conditions that did not impair the driver’s visibility (76.18%; 95% CI: 0.76-0.77), on highways located in rural areas (55.37%; 95% CI: 0.55-0.56). The outcome was some type of injury (39.11%; 95% CI: 0.39-0.40), with 5.19% (95% CI: 0.05- 0.05) of accidents resulting in death. Lower odds of death were observed for female victims (OR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.69-0.95), on urban highways (OR: 0.30; 95% CI: 0.27-0.35), during the day (OR: 0.59; 95% CI: 0.46-0.75) or at dusk (OR: 0.67; 95% CI: 0.48-0.92), in the passenger position (OR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.62-0.85), and in side collisions (OR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.26-0.47) and pile-ups (OR: 0.02; 95% CI: 0.00-0.17). Higher odds of death were associated with motorcyclists (OR: 3.79; 95% CI: 3.33-4.32), occupants of other vehicles (OR: 1.59; 95% CI: 1.30-1.94), pedestrians (OR: 14.16; 95% CI: 10.08-19.88), driver-related causes (OR: 2.40; 95% CI: 1.73-3.33), road intrinsic causes (OR: 1.69; 95% CI: 1.16-2.46), and frontal collisions (OR: 1.39; 95% CI: 1.09-1.78).The analysis concluded that fatalities and their associated factors should be monitored at the most critical points on the highways