Abstract

An exploratory study was performed with patients who suffered traumatic brain injuries (TBI) in the period from July 31, 2007 to August 1, 2008. The spatial distribution of the TBI cases seen at the trauma unit of reference in the Metropolitan Region of Salvador, Bahia, Brazil was analyzed. Both the residential addresses and places of occurrence were geocoded by means of GPS receiver devices. The spatial aggregation of cases was evaluated using the nearest neighbor hierarchical clustering technique in the CrimeStat® 3.2 program. TBI cases were not randomly distributed; rather, they formed clusters in relation to both place of residence and place of occurrence of the trauma. Many of the clusters were identified in areas far removed from the locations of emergency services as well as from the locations where multi-professional rehabilitation is offered. Thus, the spatial distribution of the health services, in relation to the places of occurrence of TBI, reveals inequalities.