ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Occupational accidents involving biological material have consequences that range from physical damage to public expenses. The study of this topic may help evaluate conducts and form preventive measures. OBJECTIVES: To characterize the notifications of occupational accidents involving biological material that occurred between 2007 and 2016 in the state of Amapá, Brazil. METHODS: This is an observational, retrospective, and descriptive study with a data analysis that quantified occupational accidents with biological material reported between January 2007 and December 2016 and analyzed the most prevalent risk factors. RESULTS: Data were obtained from the Occupational Health Reference Center of the state of Amapá: 938 cases of occupational accidents with biological material were reported in the studied period. The main type of exposure was percutaneous (75.8%), the most common organic material was blood (68.4%), and the main causative agent was the hollow-bore needle (58.6%). Considering the reported cases, 80.8% of 745 individuals were vaccinated against hepatitis B and 2.4% of 252 individuals had positive anti-HIV. Regarding the clinical progression of the injured workers, in 91.9% of the cases these data were unknown or not recorded, and 47.4% of the patients who provided this information were discharged with no serological conversion. CONCLUSIONS: The main causes of occupational accidents were related to the use of sharps for intravenous drug administration and the inadequate disposal of this material, highlighting the need for stronger attention when performing these procedures. The high incidence of unknown/blank data hampered the correct serological follow-up of the patients and the epidemiological characterization of the accidents.
ABSTRACT
Practices described as traditional medicine may coexist with formalized, science-based medicine. In this context, the present study aimed to verify the profile of the elderly who consumed herbal medicines concomitantly with medications and to identify suspected adverse drug reactions (ADRs) in the Brazilian Amazon (Macapá, Amapá). The study was carried out in two steps: a cross-sectional study (structured questionnaire) and a clinical study (pharmacotherapeutic follow-up). Out of 208 participants, 78.8% were female with age between 60 and 69 years (58.7%), 59.1% used herbal medicines concurrently with medications, and 40.9% did not report use of herbal medicine. Losartan was the most used medication, and Lippia alba (Mill.) N.E. Br was the most common herbal medicine used. The total prevalence of suspected ADRs, among the elderly who answered the structured questionnaire, was 41.3%, with 27.4% being in the elderly who used herbal medicines and medications, and 13.9% being in the elderly who used only medications. Meanwhile, the total prevalence of suspected ADRs was 71.0% among the elderly patients who underwent pharmacotherapeutic follow-up, 60.5% in elderly who used herbal medicines and medications, and 10.5% in elderly who used only medications. The most reported ADR symptoms were related to disorders that affect the nervous system (38.4%) in the structured questionnaire and related to digestive disorders (36.4%) in the pharmacotherapeutic follow-up. The probability associated with the occurrence of a given ADR in the face of a set of demographic, socioeconomic, and clinical variables was estimated; the results showed that, in the studied population, only sex (p = 0.030) had an influence on the occurrence of ADR. The prevalence of ADRs with probable causality was high in this study population, but it was only sex-related, although more prevalent in the elderly who consume herbal medicines.
