• Henrique Silva Bombana, Stig Tore Bogstrand, Hallvard Gjerde, Ragnhild Elén Gjulem Jamt, CarvalhoHeráclito Barbosa deHBDepartment of Preventive Medicine, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Av. Dr. Arnaldo, 455 - Cerqueira César, São Paulo SP 01246-903, Brazil., Gabriel Andreuccetti, BerniniCelso de OliveiraCODepartment of Surgery, Clinical Hospital of the University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Av. Dr. Enéas Carvalho de Aguiar, 255 - Cerqueira César, São Paulo SP 05403-000, Brazil., Daniel Romero Muñoz, Vilma Leyton, and GreveJulia Maria D'AndréaJMDDepartment of Traumatology and Orthopedics, Clinical Hospital of the University of Sao Paulo Medical School, R. Dr. Ovídio Pires de Campos, 333 - Cerqueira César, São Paulo SP 05403-010, Brazil..
• Department of Legal Medicine, University of Sao Paulo Medical School, Av. Dr. Arnaldo, 455 - Cerqueira César, São Paulo SP 01246-903, Brazil. Electronic address: hbombana@usp.br.
• Injury. 2022 Jan 1; 53 (1): 30-36.

IntroductionAlcohol and illicit drugs impair cognitive and psychomotor skills and may thereby increase the risk of involvement in a road traffic crash and other types of injuries. However, the knowledge on the use of psychoactive substances among injured patients presenting to emergency departments in low and middle-income countries remains limited.AimsTo estimate the prevalence of alcohol and illicit drug use among patients with traumatic injuries admitted to an emergency department in Sao Paulo, Brazil.MethodsBlood samples from injured patients requiring hospitalization for more than 24 h due to road traffic crashes, falls, or violence, were collected from July 2018 to June 2019. The samples were analyzed for alcohol and illicit drugs.ResultsA total of 376 patients were included in this study; the median age was 36 years and 80% of patients were male. The majority (56%) of injuries resulted from road traffic crashes, with approximately half of them being motorcyclists. Alcohol, drugs, or both were detected in 32% of samples. The proportion that tested positive was highest for males (35%), for the age group 18-39 years (41%), for singles (43%), and for patients injured at nighttime (44%). Patients injured due to violence had the highest prevalence of alcohol or drugs in their blood samples (44%). Alcohol was most prevalent (23%), followed by cocaine (12%) and cannabis (5%).ConclusionThe use of alcohol and illicit drugs was common among injured patients in Sao Paulo; it was likely a contributing factor in a third of the injurious accidents. Alcohol was the most prevalent substance followed by cocaine and cannabis.Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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