Profile of poisonings among Brazilian adolescents from 1999 to 2001

Este trabalho analisa o perfil das intoxica????es em adolescentes valendo-se da base de dados do Sistema Nacional de Informa????es T??xico-Farmacol??gicas (SINITOX), composta de casos e ??bitos de intoxica????o humana registrados pelos Centros de Informa????o e Assist??ncia Toxicol??gica, para o per??odo de 1999 a 2001. Com rela????o aos casos, animais pe??onhentos (33,7%) e medicamentos (25,7%) constituem os principais agentes t??xicos para os pr??-adolescentes de 10 a 14 anos, enquanto para os adolescentes de 15 a 19 anos temos uma invers??o das posi????es, com os medicamentos (33%), sendo seguidos pelos animais pe??onhentos (21,4%). Dos 35 ??bitos de pr??-adolescentes registrados, 54,3% foram resultado de acidente, 54,3% acometeram jovens do sexo masculino e 31,4% foram causados por animais pe??onhentos. Dos 98 ??bitos de adolescentes, 72,4% foram resultado de suic??dio, sendo 54,1% praticados por jovens do sexo feminino e 38,8% foram causados por agrot??xicos de uso agr??cola.This paper analyzes the profile of poisonings among adolescents as reported by the Brazilian National Poisoning Information System (SINITOX) database. This database covers cases and deaths secondary to human poisoning recorded by Poison Control Centers (1999-2001). With relation to cases, venomous animals (33.7%) and medicines (25.7%) are the main toxic agents in pre-adolescents (10-14 years). For adolescents (15-19 years), medicines ranked first (33.0%), followed by bites/stings from venomous animals (21.4%). There were 35 deaths among pre-adolescents, 54.3% resulting from accidental poisoning, 54.3% in males, and 31.4% caused by venomous animals. Ninety-eight deaths were reported among adolescents, 72.4% of which were suicides, 54.1% in females, and 38.8% resulting from pesticide poisoning