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Psychoactive substance consumption after the Fundão dam mine tailing disaster in Minas Gerais State, Brazil

Authors :
Elaine Silva Miranda
Marcelo Dell'Aringa
Everaldo Alves da Costa
Thais Piazza
Francesco Della Corte
Luca Ragazzoni
Francesco Barone-Adesi
Carla Lourenço Tavares de Andrade
Claudia Garcia Serpa Osorio-de-Castro
Source :
Cadernos de Saúde Pública, Vol 40, Iss 3 (2024)
Publication Year :
2024
Publisher :
Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, 2024.

Abstract

Abstract: Disasters cause changes in morbidity, mortality, and medicine use. Brazil is one of the main producers of mineral ores at great environmental cost. Mine tailings are stored in dams and ruptures have led to major disasters. We investigated the consumption of psychoactive medicines in the municipalities affected by the Fundão dam disaster in Minas Gerais State. An ecological study was carried out on drug consumption, estimated using public purchases in Minas Gerais and dispensing data from private retail pharmacies. Consumption (in number of defined daily doses/100,000 inhabitants per day) was analyzed descriptively in eight municipalities, stratified according to consumption level during a 25-month period. Six comparisons of mean consumption values for both data sets were done for pre- and post-disaster periods. The means of medicine consumption before and after the event were plotted and linear trends were added. Public purchase data evinced high consumption levels. Only pharmaceutical retail showed significant differences between the strata in the pre-disaster versus two post-disaster periods. Smaller municipalities showed an increase in consumption 15 months after the disaster. Clonazepam led the way in pharmaceutical retail consumption, followed by fluoxetine. Medicines showed an upward trend after the disaster. The high public provision may have stifled significant consumption patterns of psychoactive drugs; however, peak consumption were observed in private retail, suggesting a modification in use patterns after the disaster. The decrease in consumption immediately after the event was probably related to lower care-seeking behavior on the part of the population, and significant peaks after the disaster may reflect economic consequences of it.

Details

Language :
English, Spanish; Castilian, Portuguese
ISSN :
16784464 and 0102311x
Volume :
40
Issue :
3
Database :
Directory of Open Access Journals
Journal :
Cadernos de Saúde Pública
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
edsdoj.006bc0753dcf41968acd5132570b3217
Document Type :
article
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1590/0102-311xen237022