Risks and Consequences of Orofacial Injuries due to Traffic Police-Related Work in Peru

This study aimed to determine the risks and consequences of orofacial injury during police-related work in Peru. This cross-sectional study included a sample of 373 active members of the traffic police of Metropolitan Lima, who answered a 26-question questionnaire on the history of bodily injury, orofacial injury and dental trauma. Simple logistic regression using STATA was used to estimate outcomes of orofacial injury, dental trauma, sequelae or sick leave according to demographic, occupational, and general health characteristics (p < 0.05). Most of the sample were female (69.7%), with 12.6 years of work, eutrophic nutrition (46.5%) and overweight (45.2%). The history of labor-related bodily injury was 30.3%, with an average of two per agent and a predominance in the lower extremities (20.4% to 46.9%), head (15.9%), and neck (9.7%). The history of work-related orofacial injury was 8.3% with a predominance of dental trauma (83.9%), fracture (56%), contusion (48%), consequences of sequelae (45.2%), and sick leave (19.4%) over an average of four months. No demographic, occupational, or health factors were associated with the outcome variables, except for the second occupation, which was associated with the risk of orofacial injury (OR = 2.83, 95% IC: 1.22-6.57, p = 0.015). Orofacial injuries produced during police work were not frequent, but generated sequelae and absence from work.