Citation

dos Santos Teles A, de Araujo Oliveira RF, Bahia Coelho TC, Vinhas Ribeiro G, Lima Mendes WM, Prates Santos PN. Revista de Ciencias Farmaceuticas Basica e Aplicada 2013; 34(2): 281-288.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013)

DOI

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PMID

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Abstract

Drug intoxication is a problem of great relevance to public health. In Brazil, drugs are the leading cause of human poisoning. This article describes the profile and outcomes of poisonings in the city of Feira de Santana, Bahia State, from 2007 to 2010, and analyzes morbidity and mortality caused by drugs. In this descriptive study, 631 poisoning cases reported in the SINAN (Brazilian National Information System for Notifiable Diseases) were analyzed. In this analysis, the following variables were used: gender, age, race, education, occupation, clinical outcome of the case notified, area where the poisoning occurred, determining circumstance for its, type of exposure, frequency of the this type of poisoning and the type of notifying unit. It was found that poisoning by drugs represented 33% of all occurrences, followed by raticides (18%) and suicide attempts (responsible in 2010 for 81% of the notifications). Women had a higher number of notifications than men, and many cases of children (1-4 years) and young adults were reported. The mortality observed in Feira de Santana was higher than the national and regional averages, except in the year 2009. Therefore, the Health Surveillance System should prioritize educational, preventive, and intersectoral actions to ensure the correct use of drugs and improve their impact on health. Moreover, it should invest in awareness raising of primary care professionals to improve the notification of this important kind of poisoning.

Language: en

Keywords

Surveillance; human; age; gender; Toxicology; female; male; mortality; suicide attempt; occupation; morbidity; race; article; major clinical study; drug intoxication; health personnel attitude; drug utilization; educational status; Drug utilization; descriptive research; adverse outcome; disease surveillance; Epidemiological