This study describes the context of hospitalization experienced by traffic accident victims and their family caregivers. Using a qualitative approach and orientated by the convergent analysis, the investigation took place at an emergency hospital, in Fortaleza, Ceará, in 2004, with 14 people - seven patients with skeletal muscle trauma and seven relatives accompanying them. In the participants' standpoint, the hospitalization moment is permeated by depression, anxiety, sadness, fear, concern, unawareness, affront from the health team to the patient and family, being exacerbated by the physical traumas, economical difficulties, social and legal implications. According to the integral principle, care to traffic victims should be extended to their relatives, because the latter also suffer injuries when they come across sudden death, serious traumas and seequls in significant persons.
Accidents, traffic; Family; Hospitalization