Revista de Saúde Pública (Oct 2008)
Ingestão alcoólica em vítimas de causas externas atendidas em um hospital geral universitário Ingestión alcohólica en víctimas de causas externas atendidas en un hospital general universitário Alcohol consumption among victims of external causes in a university general hospital
Abstract
OBJETIVO: Estimar a freqüência de ingestão alcoólica em vítimas de causas externas atendidas em hospital. MÉTODOS: Estudo realizado com vítimas atendidas em um hospital geral universitário em Uberlândia (MG), de fevereiro a agosto de 2004. A alcoolemia foi determinada em 85 pacientes no pronto-socorro e entrevistaram-se outros 301 internados nas enfermarias sobre possível ingestão alcoólica previamente ao trauma; em ambos os grupos foi aplicado o questionário Cut-down, Annoyed by criticism, Guilty and Eye-opener (CAGE). Para as comparações das freqüências foi utilizado o teste exato de Fisher. RESULTADOS: A alcoolemia foi positiva em 31,8% dos pacientes testados, os quais mais freqüentemente necessitaram de internação (70,4% versus 37,9%; pOBJETIVO: Estimar la frecuencia de ingestión alcohólica en víctimas de causas externas atendidas en hospital. MÉTODOS: Se realizó estudio con víctimas atendidas en un hospital general universitario en Uberlandia (Sureste de Brasil), de febrero a agosto de 2004. La alcoholemia fue determinada en 85 pacientes en la emergencia y se encuestaron 301 internados en las enfermerías sobre posible ingestión alcohólica previamente al trauma; en ambos grupos fue aplicado encuesta Cut-down, Annoyed by criticism, Guilty and Eye-opener (CAGE). Se utilizó la prueba exacta de Fisher para comparar las frecuencias. RESULTADOS: La alcoholemia fue positiva en 31,8% de los pacientes evaluados, los cuales necesitaron de internación con más frecuencia (70,4% versus 37,9%; pOBJECTIVE: To estimate frequency of alcohol consumption among victims of external causes cared for in a hospital. METHODS: Study performed with victims cared for in a university general hospital in the city of Uberlândia (Southeastern Brazil), between February and August 2004. Blood alcohol content was determined from 85 patients in the emergency room. Other 301 patients, hospitalized in the outpatient clinics, were interviewed about possible alcohol consumption prior to trauma. The Cut-down, Annoyed by criticism, Guilty and Eye-opener (CAGE) questionnaire was applied in both groups. Fisher's exact test was employed to compare frequencies. RESULTS: Blood alcohol content was positive among 31.8% of patients tested, who most frequently required hospitalization (70.4% versus 37.9%; p<0.05). Proportionately, positive blood alcohol content was more frequent (p<0.05) among victims of physical aggression (57.1%) than fall victims (18.2%) or those of traffic accidents (29.3%). In outpatient clinics, 29.9% of patients mentioned alcohol consumption, proportionately more frequent (p<0.01) among victims of physical aggression (67.4%) than traffic accident victims (27.8%) or fall victims (19.3%). Among those who had drunk alcohol and were approached in the emergency room or in the outpatient clinics, the following was observed: the majority was male (85.2% and 80.4%), the occurrence of trauma was higher (p<0.05) on weekends (63% and 57.8%) and at night (59.3% and 57.8%), and the CAGE questionnaire was positive among 81.5% and 82.2% of them. CONCLUSIONS: About a third of patients had drunk alcoholic beverages prior to trauma and the majority of them were male. Proportionately, previous alcohol consumption was more frequent among patients who were victims of violence. CAGE results show that most patients, victims of external causes after alcohol consumption, were not occasional drinkers, but probably chronic users or alcoholics.
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