Victims profile in function of motorcycle engine potency and assisted by the Fire Department of Uberlândia, Brazil

Abstract

Introduction: Traffic accidents are a global issue, especially in emerging countries, resulting in a high number of deaths and significant social and economic expenditures with victims. Motorcycle accidents stand out mainly by its greater vulnerability, and studies relating bike engine potency and accidents are still rare. Objective: To trace the profile of victims involved in motorcycle accidents as a function of motorcycle power that were assisted by the Fire Department in Uberlândia, Brazil.  Methodology: A transversal, retrospective, analytic and quantitative study, based on a public database. Twelve thousand nine hundred occurrence reports were retrospectively analyzed between 2015 and 2018 in the Integrated System of Social Defense from the Military Fire Department of Minas Gerais state database. Variables that allowed accident characterization were collected (such as motorcycle conductor or passenger and from the accident itself) and were compared in function of the motorcycle power or engine potency (less than 250 CC as low and more than 250 CC as high).  Results: There was a lack of information in reports about the accident and even greater lack about the injured person, ranging from 0% to 52%. The predominance of accidents was with motorcycles below 250 CC. The values of severity and clinical data scores were not different between engine potency categories, except for the heart frequency of the injured, with a median of 82 and 80 beats for high and low engine potency, respectively. A greater frequency of accidents involving men, single, with higher education conducting motorcycles over 250 CC, involved in falls, with occurrence between 18:01 and 24:00 hours was noted. However, accidents occurred mostly with small-sized vehicles and motorcycles and did not differ between days of the week. Accidents showed a spatial pattern where most accidents occurred downtown and, consequently, in more commercial regions, with no major differences in engine potency.  Conclusion: Even though accident severity did not differ between engine potency categories, the profile of participants showed some differences. This information, along with more complete and broader data in the reports, can offer subsides for more assertive public policy implementation to mitigate traffic accidents.