Prevalence of substance use among trauma patients treated in a Brazilian emergency room.

OBJECTIVE

Although there is a considerable amount of data in the literature regarding the association between alcohol consumption and injuries treated in emergency rooms, little is known about the relationship between such injury and the use of other substances. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of substance use in patients admitted to the emergency room for non-fatal injuries.

METHOD

A prospective cross-sectional study assessing all patients admitted to the emergency room within 6 hours after a non-fatal injury was conducted over a three-month period. The following were used as measures of alcohol and drug use: a standardized World Health Organization questionnaire; a self-administered questionnaire related to drug consumption within the 24 hours preceding contact; the Drug Abuse Screening Test; urine screens for cannabis, cocaine and benzodiazepines; and determination of blood alcohol concentration. Descriptive analyses were performed and the confidence interval used was 95%.

RESULTS

A total of 353 patients were included. Cannabis and cocaine screens were conducted for 242 patients and benzodiazepine screens were conducted for 166. Blood alcohol concentrations reached the level of positivity in 11% (n = 39), and 10% (n = 33) presented some degree of intoxication. Among the 242 patients screened, 13.6% (n = 33) tested positive for cannabis, and 3.3% (n = 8) tested positive for cocaine, whereas 4.2% (n = 7) of the 166 patients screened tested positive for benzodiazepines.

CONCLUSIONS

Substance use was highly prevalent among these individuals. In this sample, the frequency for the use of cannabis (an illicit drug) was comparable to that of alcohol. More studies are needed in order to characterize such use among Brazilians and to develop proper approaches to such cases, with the aim of reducing substance use and its consequences.