Citation

Piñero-De Fuentes S, Medina-Orozco E, Rojas M. Salud Publica Mex. 1998; 40(3): 234-240.

Vernacular Title

Prevalencia del consumo de drogas en pacientes atendidos en urgencias de adultos.

Affiliation

Centro de Investigaciones Toxicológicas, Universidad de Carabobo (CITUC), Valencia, Venezuela.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Instituto Nacional de Salud Publica)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9670784

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the association between patient admission due to trauma and the consumption of marihuana, cocaine and bazooka (basic cocaine paste) at the Central Hospital of Valencia, Venezuela. MATERIAL AND METHODS: 148 subjects were studied who had entered the emergency room due to lesions caused by aggression (AL), traffic accidents (TA), work-related accidents (WRA), self-inflicted injury (SII) and intoxication (INT). A questionnaire was applied and toxicology analyses performed. RESULTS: Drug consumption, alone or in combination, was found in 23.6% of individuals (13.5% cocaine, 7.4% marihuana and 2.7% both). Of the cocaine positive, 50% entered for AL, 20% for INT, 10% for SII, 5% for WRA and 15% for other causes. Of the marihuana positive, 36.4% entered for TA, followed by 27.3% for WRA, 18.18% for AL, 9.09% for INT and 9.09% for other causes. For combined drug consumption, entries for AL were 75% and for WRA, 25%. Alcohol consumption associated to cocaine was 50%, to marihuana, 9% and to combined drugs, 25%. CONCLUSIONS: These results show that one of every four hospital admissions for trauma is associated to drug abuse, alone or in combination. This reveals a close cause-effect relationship between the use of psychoactive drugs and trauma.

Keywords: Cannabis impaired driving; DUID; Ethanol impaired driving

Language: es