RESUMO
The aim of this study was to analyze police coverage and the validity of data on emergency and hospitalization records as well as on death certificates for traffic casualties in Londrina, Paraná State, Brazil. Victims (3,643) of road accidents during the first semester of 1996 were investigated and followed up after 180 days to confirm whether death was due to the accident. Police data recorded only 32.5% of the casualties, the coverage being higher for car occupants (71.6%) and lower for cyclists (8.1%) and pedestrians (24.8%). Agreement was low between original information and that derived from investigation of death certificates (Kappa coefficient 0.10; 95% CI: 0.02-0.17), fair for hospitalization records (Kappa coefficient 0.33; 95% CI: 0.27-0.40), and substantial for emergency records (Kappa coefficient 0.63; 95% CI: 0.61-0.65). Results suggest that police data underestimate the number of traffic casualties and that it is necessary to improve the validity of medical records.