[An epidemiological survey on motorcycle accident victims assisted at a reference trauma center of Sergipe]

The trauma caused by motorcycle accidents affects a large number of victims and is a serious public health problem in Brazil. This documental study was performed with a quantitative approach with the objective to raise epidemiological data from 554 motorcycle accident victims assisted in September and October 2006 in a referral center for trauma of Sergipe. The result analysis shows a predominance of men (82.7%) with mean age of 27.78 years, who were admitted during the night shift (45.9%), Sunday (27.3%), whose injuries were abrasions (n=169) on the head, face and neck. The victims stayed in the hospital for up to 12 hours (76%) and were discharged. Of the registered cases, 14.6% were suspected of having consumed alcohol and 19.3% were not wearing a helmet during the accident.