Objetivo: medir os principais fatores de risco relacionados à ocorrência de injúrias acidentais, na faixa etária entre quatro e cinco anos de idade.Métodos: foi estudada uma coorte prospectiva de 620 crianças, na qual a ocorrência de acidentes e injúrias foi registrada em um diário, durante um período de um mês. Esta foi uma subamostra sistemática, proveniente da coorte de nascimentos de 1993, que ainda residiam na área urbana de Pelotas, RS. O desfecho em estudo foi o número de injúrias acidentais relatadas por criança-mês. A análise multivariada, utilizando Regressão de Poisson, foi usada para controlar fatores de confusão.Resultados: a incidência mensal de acidentes foi de 53,8%, e 48,4% das crianças sofreram pelo menos uma injúria acidental. As crianças do sexo masculino tiveram 30% mais de chances de se lesionarem do que aquelas do sexo feminino, e as crianças brancas tiveram um risco 70% maior do que as crianças não-brancas. Renda familiar, escolaridade dos pais e trabalho materno não se associaram à ocorrência de injúrias. Após ajuste para variáveis socioeconômi-cas e ambientais, as crianças que possuíam um ou mais irmãos menores apresentavam taxa 30% maior de injúrias acidentais. Crianças residentes em casa de tijolo apresentaram uma incidência de injúrias cerca de 40% superior.Conclusões: poucos fatores de risco modificáveis foram associados a um aumento na freqüência de injúrias acidentais. Destes fatores, a presença de crianças mais jovens em casa merece especial atenção, sendo necessário instruir os pais sobre o aumento no risco observado por ocasião do nascimento de um irmão menor.J Pediatr (Rio J) 2002; 78 (2):97-104: acidentes, injúrias físicas, prevenção de acidentes, fatores de risco. AbstractObjective: to measure the main risk factors associated with the occurrence of accidental injuries in children aged 4-5 years.Methods: the study included a prospective cohort of children whose parents filled in a diary recording accidents and injuries during a period of one-month. The children represented a systematic subsample from a population-based birth cohort in southern Brazil. The outcome was the number of reported injuries per child during one month. Multivariate analysis (Poisson regression) was used to assess confounding factors.Results: the monthly frequency of accidents was 53.8%, and 48.4% of the children suffered at least one injury. Boys had 30% more injuries than girls, and white children had 70% higher incidence than non-white. Family income, parental education and maternal employment were not associated with the frequency of injuries. After adjustment of socioeconomic and environmental factors, having younger siblings was associated with a 30% higher injury rate, and living in a home made of bricks was associated with a 35% increase. The incidence of injuries appeared to be higher among children attending day-care centers and those living in periurban areas.Conclusions: few risk factors were associated with an increased frequency of injuries. Among them, the most amenable to intervention se...

Objective: to measure the main risk factors associated with the occurrence of accidental injuries in children aged 4-5 years. Methods: the study included a prospective cohort of children whose parents filled in a diary recording accidents and injuries during a period of one-month. The children represented a systematic subsample from a population-based birth cohort in southern Brazil. The outcome was the number of reported injuries per child during one month. Multivariate analysis (Poisson regression) was used to assess confounding factors. Results: the monthly frequency of accidents was 53.8%, and 48.4% of the children suffered at least one injury. Boys had 30% more injuries than girls, and white children had 70% higher incidence than nonwhite. Family income, parental education and maternal employment were not associated with the frequency of injuries. After adjustment of socioeconomic and environmental factors, having younger siblings was associated with a 30% higher injury rate, and living in a home made of bricks was associated with a 35% increase. The incidence of injuries appeared to be higher among children attending day-care centers and those living in periurban areas. Conclusions: few risk factors were associated with an increased frequency of injuries. Among them, the most amenable to intervention seems to be the presence of younger siblings. Parents should become aware of children's needs for increased attention when a younger sibling is born.

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