Drug products intoxications in Brazil: An epidemiological view between 2012 and 2021

The present study aimed to perform an epidemiological analysis of cases of drug intoxication in Brazil from 2012 to 2021. For this, data available in the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) of the Informatics Department of the Unified Health System (DATASUS) were used, considering the drug product as a toxic agent. During the study period, there were 1,255,435 cases of intoxication in Brazil. Of these, 47.5% (n= 596,086) were caused by drug products, with prevalence in females (72.11%; n= 429,838), age group 20 to 39 years (42.06%; n= 250,718), ethnicity/white color (45.51%; n= 271,268) and schooling - high school (23.81%; n= 141,934). Regarding the circumstances that triggered drug intoxication, the main reason was the suicide attempt in 391,635 cases (65.70%), and the Southeast region presented the highest number of intoxications per drug (49.51%), followed by the South (21.80%) and Northeast region (18.71%). Most cases of drug intoxication were defined based on clinical criteria (68.24%) and only 3.35% on clinical and laboratory criteria, which evolved to cure without sequelae in 81.11% (n= 483,490) of the cases, with 1,233 deaths. These data reinforce the need for health education focused on the rational use of medications and the importance of health professionals in this process, such as pharmacists, which are the interface between the patient and the medication.