Epidemiological Profile of Poisoning in Workplace Compulsory Notifications in the Brazilian Notifiable Diseases Information System from Municipalities of São Paulo State

Abstract

The Brazilian Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) introduced, in the middle of 2007, forms for reporting injuries and diseases related to work by every health care unit in the country. Therefore, this study aimed to describe the epidemiological profile of the poisoning in workplace notifications for three São Paulo State municipalities from 2008 to 2014. This was a descriptive time-series study. Data were collected from the SINAN for the municipalities of Araraquara, Piracicaba and Campinas from 2008 to 2014. Data were processed and evaluated using STATA software. The variables analysed were: sex, age, occupation, toxic agent, health unit attendance, route of exposure, and exposure circumstance. Trend in the number of notifications was assessed by a Prains-Winsten regression model. A total of 367 occupational poisoning events (75.2% among men, 24.8% among women) were notified in the study period, including 7 cases involving underage workers. The age mean was 35 years (SD=12). Most of the notifications were attended in primary health care (82.4%), and 29.3% among petrochemical operators. The most common groups of toxic agents were industrial chemical products (64.6%) followed by pesticides (16.9%). Regular use of the toxic agent was the main poisoning circumstance (71.1%). Accidental events came as the second more usual circumstance of intoxication (18.8%). Regarding the exposure route, the respiratory was the mean route (80.4%), followed by dermal contact (11.7%). The study revealed a decrease of 12 notifications number per year in the study period. As far as it is known, this was the first study that described the profile of poisoning in workplace for these municipalities with SINAN data. The number of notifications was low suggesting important underreporting, considering the profile of the municipalities, and the contingent of workers at risk. Moreover, the decrease in notifications over the years indicates a worsening of this injurie surveillance.