Household Medicine Stock and Use by Children in the Jequitinhonha Valley, Brazil

1,237 drugs were found in a population-based domestic survey across 20 municipalities. The data shows a high prevalence of domestic stock with risks for children, where 27% of medicines were in easily accessible places. Maria Jesus Barreto Cruz conducted this research, which identifies analgesics, antihistamines, and antibiotics as prevalent drug types.

Use Cases

• Assessing child safety risks based on the prevalence of medicines stored in easily accessible places.
• Analyzing associations between caregiver education levels and household pharmaceutical practices.
• Identifying prevalent drug categories like analgesics and antibiotics for regional public health planning.
• Evaluating the need for targeted educational interventions in specific municipalities.

Strengths

• Data is based on a population-based domestic survey across 20 municipalities.
• The description provides specific counts, such as 1,237 total drugs found.
• It identifies concrete risk factors, such as 27% of drugs being in easily accessible places.

Limitations

• Row count and column-level documentation are absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.
• Data may reflect geographic bias inherent to the specific surveyed region.

Provenance

Source

Maria Jesus Barreto Cruz

Collection Method

Population-based domestic survey

Geography

20 municipalities of the Jequitinhonha Valley, Minas Gerais, Brazil