Temporal trend and epidemiological profile of exogenous poisonings in Brazil: an ecological study from 2007 to 2019

Poisonings are a global public health problem. With the aim of describing their epidemiological profile in Brazil, an ecological time series study was conducted from 2007 to 2019, characterizing individual demographic variables (sex; age), exposure variables (circumstance; toxic agents), health indicators (incidence; mortality; fatality), and temporal trends. Data concerning notifications were extracted from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN) and stratified by macro-region, sex, age, circumstance, and toxic agents. The indicators of incidence, fatality, and mortality were calculated, and the temporal trend was analyzed using the Prais-Winsten model. Our search obtained 1,166,299 notifications, the majority of which were female individuals (55.6%). The preponderance of cases that resulted in death were referent to male individuals (59.6%). The adult age group was the most reported (60.4%), yet the incidence (50.49/100,000 inhabitants) was higher among children. Medication was the main agent (43.7%), and attempted suicide was the main circumstance related to notifications, deaths, incidence, and mortality. Our findings show a low fatality rate (1.0%) and an increasing trend in incidence and mortality. Thus, the results can guide health promotion and prevention actions in the country.