Mortalidad por accidentes de tránsito en Chile, 1994: una aproximación epidemiológica / Mortality due to traffic accidents in Chile during 1994: an epidemiological approach

Traffic accidents are one of the most important public health problems in the world and produce social, work and human resources losses. Data were obtained from death certificates in which the cause of death was a traffic acciden. All death certificates obtained by the National Institute of Statistics during 1994 were used. Social, demographic and seasonal variable were recorded. During 1994 there were 1679 deaths due to traffic accidents (81 percent male), with a rate of 19.6 per 100,000 inhabitants. Gender specific risks were 19.62 and 4.48 for men and women, respectively. Mean age at the moment of death was 39 years old. Fifty three percent of deceased people were single, 42 percent married and 5 percent widowers. Ten percent had not formal education, 48 percent had basic education, 23 percent college education and 6.5 percent university education. Seventy seven percent of fatalities ocurred in urban areas. The risk of death of traffic accidents was 7.02 per 100,000 inhabitants in the metropolitan region. The information obtained in the present study may help to generate preventive strategies to control deaths caused by traffic accidents

Características epidemiológicas de la displasia congénita de caderas en una población chilena / Epidemiologic characteristics of congenital hip dysplasia in a chilean population

Se presentan los resultados de un estudio retrospectivo de 97 casos de displasia congénita de caderas y 100 controles pareados por sexo y peso de nacimiento. Se encontró una relación sexo femenino: sexo masculino 6,5:1, predominio del compromiso bilateral (68%) y diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre casos y controles en los antecedentes familiares de displasia y presentación podálica completa. En 23% de los casos no hubo sospecha clínica previa al diagnóstico radiológico. Los autores plantean la necesidad de aplicar programas de tamizaje de mayor sensibilidad empleando estudios radiológicos y ultrasonográficos, en particular en niños con antecedentes de factores de riesgo