Eventos tóxicos envolvendo crianças e adolescentes do estado do Ceará

Abstract

The objective of the study is to characterize the epidemiological and toxicological profile of toxic events involving children and adolescents assisted by Toxicological Information and Assistance Center in Fortaleza, Ceará. This is an exploratory cross-sectional epidemiological study that analyzed secondary data on toxic events involving children and adolescents, which occurred in the state of Ceará, attended from 2015 to 2018 at the reference center for toxic events in Fortaleza, registered in the System Datatox. The study analyzed 1,903 cases of children and 1,731 cases of adolescents treated at the center during that period. About 16% of the children attended were under 1 year old and the rest were distributed in the age groups from 2 to 5 and from 6 to 11 years old, with similar proportions of 42%. With regard to adolescents, there was a higher proportion of visits in the 15-17 age group (39%), compared to younger (28%) and older (33%) adolescents. It was found that as for the place of exposure, the domestic environment predominates in all age groups of children and adolescents. Regarding the circumstances of exposure to toxic agents, there was an important frequency of suicide attempts among adolescents, being the second leading cause of toxic events (14%), after accidental (81%), in this age group. With the exception of accidents caused by toxins and non-venomous/non-poisonous animals, the most frequently involved toxicants were: medicines (38.4% in children and 51.0% in adolescents), pesticides (21.9% in children and 24.6% in adolescents) and house cleaning products (13.2% in children and 5.6% in adolescents). Mild clinical manifestations prevailed in both age groups in almost 90% of cases. There were 237 cases of attempted suicide in adolescents. For every 4 consultations that involved a suicide attempt, 3 were female. Half of the adolescents were aged between 15 and 17 years. The toxic agents most used in suicide attempts in adolescents were medicines (61.9%), pesticides (27.5%) and house cleaning products (3.8%). In 3.8% of the cases, there was the simultaneous use of two or more toxic agents belonging to different groups. The cases of female adolescents were quite representative in the study, reaching almost two thirds (60.8%) of the sample. In total, 3,634 records of toxic events in children and adolescents, one in 5 children/adolescents treated at the center suffered poisoning while the other 4 were victims of poisoning by toxins. Suicide attempts had an absolute predominance in adolescents, although there have been some cases in children, among adolescents, it was observed that most patients were female. Therefore, the information about toxic events in children and adolescents in the state of Ceará, generated through this study, allows the targeting of actions through specific measures that involve the whole society to reduce the number of cases.