CAGE Screening at Emergency Department with Trauma Patients
Giuliano Di Pietro *
Department of Pharmacy, Biology and Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Sergipe (Universidade Federal de Sergipe), Brazil
Camila Batista dos Santos
Department of Medicine, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Sergipe (Universidade Federal de Sergipe), Brazil
Maraiza Alves de Oliveira
Department of Pharmacy, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Sergipe (Universidade Federal de Sergipe), Brazil
Jussara Secundo dos Santos
Department of Pharmacy, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Sergipe (Universidade Federal de Sergipe), Brazil
Jessyca Costa Santos
Department of Nurse, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Sergipe (Universidade Federal de Sergipe), Brazil
Jamille C. da Silva Santos
Department of Nurse, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Sergipe (Universidade Federal de Sergipe), Brazil
Sílvia Costa Santos
Department of Psychology, Prefeitura Municipal de Lagarto, Lagarto City Hall, Brazil
Jussara Menezes Freire Social
Department of Education, Prefeitura Municipal de Lagarto, Lagarto City Hall, Brazil
Ravena Melo Ribeiro da Silva
Department of Pharmacy, Biology and Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Sergipe (Universidade Federal de Sergipe), Brazil
Claudio Moreira Lima
Department of Pharmacy, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Sergipe (Universidade Federal de Sergipe), Brazil
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Due to the great evidence between accidents trauma assisted in the emergency department (ED) and the involvement of patients with alcohol, the goal of this work is characterize violence and trauma patients treated in two regional hospitals in a rural area, using the CAGE questionnaires and other questionings. A cross-sectional cohort study was carried out from August 2014 and December 2015, on weekends. 85 individuals, who showed clinical characteristics of alcohol intoxication, were submitted to a socio-demographic and CAGE questionnaires. The data analysis was carried out using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences SPSS 20.0. The 73.5% of the individuals were male, 83% non-white, 61.5% with less than 6 years of formal education, and 57% of men and 68% of women were single. The main sectors of occupation were agriculture (25%), trade and services (27%), followed by students (12%) and only 1.2% of them were unemployed. The vast majority of traumas were caused by motorcycles (80%), followed by car accidents (7%). The results obtained with the CAGE questionnaire was surprising since 38.2% of the interviewees scored two or more points, of those, 10.7% answered affirmatively three or more questions, which indicates a severe risk of alcohol consumption. Data obtained in our study suggest a strong association between traumas and alcohol use. The alarming number of males, motorcyclists, with low educational and socioeconomic levels, should be taken into account in order to improve public healthcare policies and trauma assistance practices in the ED.
Keywords: Emergency department, alcohol, illicit drugs; trauma, CAGE questionnaire.