PREVIOUS ASSESSMENT OF ACUTE PESTICIDE POISONING USING TWO QUESTIONING METHODS AND A DIGITAL APPLICATION (QEAQS).

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PREVIOUS ASSESSMENT OF ACUTE PESTICIDE POISONING USING TWO QUESTIONING METHODS AND A DIGITAL APPLICATION (QEAQS)Gabriel Colares¹; Matias Toigo¹; Lucas Volnei Augsten¹; Shanda Aparecida Cattani¹; Simony Costa Beber¹; Gabriel Pedroso Viçozzi¹; Solange Cristina Garcia¹¹Toxicology Laboratory (LATOX), Department of Analysis, Faculty of Pharmacy, Federal University of Rio Grande do SulINTRODUCTION:Agriculture is one of the main economic pillars of Rio Grande do Sul and Brazil. However, the health of rural workers is often compromised by occupational exposure to chemical substances, such as pesticides and heavy metals. Although Brazil is one of the largest consumers of pesticides in the world, national studies on this topic remain scarce.OBJECTIVE:To conduct a retrospective study regarding possible underreporting of acute pesticide poisoning cases in Rio Grande do Sul (RS).METHODOLOGY:The research was approved by the Ethics Committee of UFRGS (CAAE: 69865417.1.0000.5347) and involved two groups: farmers from Ijuí (AGR, N=178) and small-scale livestock farmers from Bagé (PEC, N=42), totaling 220 participants. To assess possible acute poisoning cases, two types of questionnaires were applied: (a) a direct question about previous poisoning episodes; and (b) indirect questions, based on signs and symptoms reported in the 90 days prior to the interview, according to WHO criteria. An innovative offline digital application, QEAQS, developed by the team of Prof. Dr. Solange Cristina Garcia in partnership with the company Orni, was used.RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS:In the direct question, 46.6% of the farmers from Ijuí and 40.5% of the livestock farmers from Bagé reported acute poisoning, totaling 45.5%. However, based on the indirect questions, 86% of the farmers and 78.6% of the livestock farmers showed three or more symptoms in the past 90 days, indicating probable acute poisoning in 84.5% of the participants. This difference was statistically significant (pgt;0.001, binomial test). When these data are compared with reports from the Notifiable Diseases Information System (SINAN), the official records of pesticide poisoning cases are much lower than those found in the study, indicating underreporting or lack of access to healthcare services by farmers. The data reveal a high public health risk in the studied regions and highlight that workers’ direct perception underestimates poisoning cases. The use of the digital application proved to be a practical and sustainable tool, feasible for field research in areas without internet access. This study makes a relevant contribution to the advancement of occupational toxicology research.