[Morbidity due to violence against children and adolescents in Rio de Janeiro]

An analysis of police records was carried out in the Programatic Areas (Aps) of the city of Rio de Janeiro in 1990. 8000 non-fatal records were investigated, covering children and adolescents from 0 to 19 years old. These violent events were categorized as traffic accidents, physical abuse, robbery/theft and attempt of robbery/theft, sexual abuse, extortion/sequestration, threat, neglect-abandon,drugs use/traffic, and attempt of suicide/homicide. The aim of this paper is to identify the most frequent type of violence in the different Aps. According to the findings, traffic accidents, physical abuse and robbery/theft are the most common violent events affecting, especially boys in 10-19 age group. The APs 1 and 3.3 show the highest rates. The article concludes with difficulties and possibilities of dealing with violence in the health field, especially in the professional training.