Rate of motorcyclists hospitalized rises 55% in a decade – 05/30/2023 – Health

The hospitalization rate of motorcyclists injured in traffic accidents in Brazil has increased by 55% in a decade. In 2011, when 70,500 were hospitalized, it was 3.9 per 10,000 inhabitants. In 2021, the year in which 115,700 went through the same situation, it rose to 6.1.

The data are from cases seen in the SUS (Unified Health System) and affiliated units and are contained in a bulletin from the Secretariat for Health and Environment Surveillance, of the Ministry of Health, published at the end of April.

The number of deaths, in turn, had little variation. In 2011, there were 11,485 (5.8 per 100,000 inhabitants) and, in 2021, there were 11,115 (5.7 per 100,000 inhabitants).

Despite the stability indicated by these data, if in 2011 these deaths accounted for 26.6% of deaths in traffic, ten years later they reached 35.3%.

The proportion of hospitalized patients also increased, from 50.6% to 61%. And, in 2021 alone, hospitalizations of motorcyclists led to a cost of R$ 167 million to the State.

“This patient may have sequelae caused by the trauma of the accident, taking him out of the job market early. This generates even more expenses with social security due to early retirement”, says general surgeon Milton Steinman, from Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein.

In general, the victims are men, black, single, between 20 and 29 years old and with 8 to 11 years of study.

In this sense, traffic accidents involving motorcyclists are a public health problem that especially affects economically active young people, as most of those involved are workers in the exercise of their function. This also relates the accidents to a type of accident at work.

Another fact that draws attention is the location of the deaths: practically half (49.5%) were on public roads.

“Deaths still on site generally occur for two reasons: if the accident was very serious or if there was a failure in emergency care. As it is not possible that half of the accidents were very serious, one must consider that there are also failures in urgent care that need to be corrected,” says Steinman, who specializes in surgical urgencies, trauma, and catastrophes.

Data for 2021 indicate that Piauí had the highest motorcyclist mortality rate per 100,000 inhabitants (17.6), followed by Mato Grosso (14.7), Tocantins (13.8), Maranhão (11.2) and Sergipe (11). As for hospitalization rates, Piauí also led, with 17.4 hospitalizations per 10,000 inhabitants, followed by Tocantins (13.6), Mato Grosso do Sul (12.3), Rondônia (11.4) and Paraíba (10 ,5).

According to the strategies proposed within the so-called Pnatrans (National Plan for the Reduction of Deaths and Injuries in Traffic), among the actions expected to reduce traffic accidents are the regulation of metallic protections for motorcyclists, improvement of safety devices on motorcycles and bicycles and the execution of programs for speed enforcement and alcohol abuse in traffic.

“There are areas for improvement, but the action plan needs to consider these regional differences, including to foster strategies with states and municipalities”, says Steinman. “The incidence of accidents and dependence on the motorcycle fleet are much higher in the North and Northeast than in the South and Southeast of the country.”

The use of helmets is one of those issues that needs to be better attended to. According to data from the PNS (National Health Survey), in 2019, 82.6% of motorcyclists reported wearing a helmet, but, if only the Northeast region is observed, the rate dropped to 68.6% The lack of protective equipment is associated aggravation of the accident, with greater risk of head trauma and death.

In the last decade, there was also a 64.7% increase in the motorcycle fleet, from just over 18 million vehicles in 2011 to 30.3 million in 2021.

For this reason, awareness campaigns and greater oversight are essential, bringing together the various government sectors, but there are also flaws in the outpatient care network.

One of the points mentioned by the doctor is that not all hospitals are trained to deal with trauma, and errors resulting from care can result in death.

“As there is no coordination, the patient ends up depending on having specialized care to increase their survival. And, often, ambulances are instructed to take them to the nearest hospital, but not necessarily to what is a center of excellence in traumatology”, he says.

Rehabilitation is time consuming and uncertain

Among injured victims, the rehabilitation process can be long and the sequelae permanent.

“We work in rehabilitation always looking at the functional capacities that the individual can do, but it is not true that we return this individual to the life he wanted. It will be a productive, good life, but not the one he wanted” , says Linamara Rizzo Battistella, head professor of physiatry at FMUSP and creator of Rede Lucy Montoro, a clinic specialized in rehabilitation, which has seven units in the metropolitan region of São Paulo and another 12 in cities in the interior of the state.

Diogo Nascimento, 26, is one of the patients at the Vila Mariana unit, who is recovering from a traffic accident in December last year.

Nascimento was on his way to work on a motorcycle when, in a careless moment, he crashed into a truck parked on a street near Villa-Lobos Park, in the west zone of São Paulo. He suffered head trauma and was hospitalized for 18 days at the Hospital das Clínicas, 12 of which in a coma.

He has been undergoing physical therapy at the Lucy Montoro Network for a month now, a process that should take at least eight months, but he will only know if he will have any sequelae after a year or not.

On medical leave, he has the help of his mother, who pays his expenses, and hopes to be able to return to work early. And the motorcycle? “I intend to go back to walking, but not every day, as I used to before to go to work. Now only once in a while, to go for a walk.”

Fabrício Santos, 26, was using his motorcycle to work when, in July 2021, he crashed head-on with a car in Diadema (Greater São Paulo). After the shock, he was still dragged a few meters by the vehicle. He suffered a fractured jaw and left arm, which also had a torn ligament. He was rescued and spent two weeks in a coma at the Piraporinha hospital.

Five months of physical therapy have still not given him movement in his arm. He has been awaiting surgery for two months at the Lucy Montoro Network. After the procedure, a further period of rehabilitation will be required.

In those nearly two years, he worked odd jobs at car washes and body shops to try to pay the bills.

“No one will want anyone who works with only one arm”, he laments. “Everybody thinks motoboys are earning well, but they don’t. It’s a very undervalued category.”