Reuse of discarded syringes in residences of children and teenagers with diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Inadequate or insufficient supply of medication and material to apply insulin leads families to resort to a variety of strategies, such as the practice of reusing dischargeable syringes in order to reduce the expenses with the illness. This is a study aimed at evaluating the practice of insulin application, analyzing the practice of syringe reuse and describing the most frequent changes of application sites. It is a comparative, transversal survey carried out with 199 diabetic children and adolescents. It was developed at the diabetes' Outpatient Unit of the Hospital das Clínicas' Child Institute, of the University of São Paulo's School of Medicine. The studied population was divided in two groups: in Group A were those who reused the syringes, and in Group B those who did not. A common strategy was rewrapping the needle without previously cleaning it and keeping it inside or outside the refrigerator in a closed container. The most common complaint was pain. The hospital and the nurse were responsible for the orientation for that practice.