ACCIDENTS AND INJURIES IN 4 GENERAL HOSPI TALS IN THE FEDERAL-DISTRICT, MEXICO

We report the injuries for ''E'' code in 10191 subjects attending four general hospitals of Mexico CitY. Seventy-nine per cent of them were males and 29.1 per cent were females. THe highest utilization rate of the care unit was during weekends. Only 14 per cent of the study popul ation were admitted to the hospital. People classified as drunk were m ore likely to have more severe injuries and to be admitted to the hosp ital and female drinkers had the highest risk of hospitalization (RR=3 .03; IC=1.85-5.04). Only in 49 per cent of the cases was the external cause of injury coded The main causes were gunshots and stabbing with knife or cutting weapon. In this study we found a greater proportion o f fractures in women than in men, pointing toward the possible presenc e of osteoporosis in the female population.