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Affiliation
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Departamento de Enfermagem, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil. |
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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: to identify the prevalence of trauma in elderly people and how they accessed the health system through pre-hospital care.
METHOD: documentary and retrospective study at a mobile emergency care service, using a sample of 400 elderly trauma victims selected through systematic random sampling. A form validated by experts was used to collect the data. Descriptive statistical analysis was applied. The chi-square test was used to analyze the association between the variables.
RESULTS: Trauma was predominant among women (52.25%) and in the age range between 60 and 69 years (38.25%), average age 74.19 years (standard deviation±10.25). Among the mechanisms, falls (56.75%) and traffic accidents (31.25%) stood out, showing a significant relation with the pre-hospital care services (p<0.001). Circulation, airway opening, cervical control and immobilization actions were the most frequent and Basic Life Support Services (87.8%) were the most used, with trauma referral hospitals as the main destination (56.7%).
CONCLUSION: trauma prevailed among women, victims of falls, who received pre-hospital care through basic life support services and actions and were transported to the trauma referral hospital. It is important to reorganize pre-hospital care, avoiding overcrowded hospitals and delivering better care to elderly trauma victims.
Language: es |