[A retrospective study of intoxications admitted to the university hospital/UFJF from 2000 to 2004]

[Epidemiological profile of exogenous poisoning in children and adolescents from a municipality in the state of Mato Grosso]

OBJECTIVE:

To study the epidemiology of exogenous intoxications in children and adolescents of Barra Garças, Mato Grosso, from January 2008 to September 2013.

METHOD:

This was a cross-sectional, retrospective, and descriptive epidemiological study. Data were collected from the Disease Notification System (Sistema de Informação de Agravos de Notificação [SINAN]) of the municipality, processed using Microsoft Excel, and evaluated through BIOESTAT statistical software. The variables included were: sex; age; toxic agent; time and place of service; route of administration; circumstance; and classification of intoxication. The age range was established according to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, comprising children aged from 0 to 9 years old and adolescents aged from 10 to 19 years old.

RESULTS:

A total of 125 cases of accidental exogenous poisoning was registered, including 77 children and 48 adolescents. Food and beverages (38.4%) and drugs (24.0%) were the most common groups of toxic agents responsible for the poisoning. The largest age group affected by intoxication was composed of children aged from 0 to 4 years old (43.2%) and adolescents aged from 10 to 14 years old (19.7%). Regarding the circumstances, intoxication occurred due to suicide attempts (16.8%) and accidental events (23.2%) in adolescents and children, respectively. The study revealed a higher frequency of poisoning in girls.

CONCLUSION:

Exogenous intoxications occurred predominantly in children up to 4 years old, through the accidental consumption of food or drinks. Thus, the adoption of educational prevention programs for children's family members and caregivers is necessary.

Prevalence and costs of hospitalizations for poisoning and accidental intoxication in Brazilian elderly

A cross-sectional study of secondary data/information obtained from the Hospital Information System (HIS) spanning the years 2008 - 2009 was performed. The distribution of the main hospital admissions by gender, age, color/race, region and federal unit of residence, average expenditure and average length of hospital stay, year of hospitalization and mortality rates (MR) were studied. The data collected were tabulated by TabNet and keyed into Microsoft Excel 2007. It was verified that elderly males (54.3%), from 60 to 69 years old (50.6%), nonwhites (36.3%) and residents of Southeast and North regions of the country had the highest rates of hospitalization. Seniors were hospitalized for an average of 4.8 days, and the major causes were exposure to alcohol (43.7%) and to drugs (33.9%). Expenses related to hospital admissions were, on average, R$ 529,817.70. The highest mortality rates were recorded among females (MR = 4.34), in elderly, 80 years or older (MR = 10.16) and Caucasians (MR = 3.95), where pharmacological substances with action on the Autonomic Nervous System were the leading cause of death. There are demographic differences in morbi-mortality of these elderly since, although men and younger elderly were the main victims, women and elderly of advanced age have greater mortality. The leading causes of hospitalization were alcohol and drugs.

Avaliação da memória operacional fonológica e impulsividade de usuários de drogas atendidos em um Centro de Atenção Integrada à Saúde Mental

OBJETIVO: avaliar a memória operacional fonológica e relacionar com a impulsividade de pacientes em tratamento no Centro de Atenção Integrada à Saúde Mental. MÉTODO: 29 usuários: 21 do gênero masculino e 8 do feminino, usuários de substâncias psicoativas, com 37,9±10,5 anos de idade e 10,59±3,53 anos de escolaridade; e 30 voluntários: 19 do gênero masculino e 11 do feminino, com 32,4±11,9 anos de idade e 11,07±3,29 anos de escolaridade, sem histórico psiquiátrico ou de dependência química foram convocados à avaliação de: 1) memória operacional para palavras e pseudo-palavras; 2) impulsividade em seus fatores de segunda ordem (impulsividade atencional, motora e de não planejamento). RESULTADOS: o desempenho dos usuários de substâncias psicoativas na avaliação da memória em comparação ao grupo controle foi pior tanto no span auditivo de palavras e pseudo-palavras como também no número total de recordação de palavras e pseudo-palavras. Na avaliação da impulsividade, os usuários apresentaram escores elevados em contraposição aos sujeitos controle em todos os subtipos de impulsividade, inclusive no total. Na análise de correlação dos dados não foram encontradas relações entre os escores de impulsividade e memória. CONCLUSÃO: : este padrão de respostas indica comprometimento da memória operacional fonológica provavelmente independente do alto nível de impulsividade apresentado pelos usuários de drogas. Estas análises contribuem para propor estratégias de tratamento direcionadas às alterações detectadas.