Avaliação do uso de álcool no povo indígena Maxakali

Abstract

The use of alcohol in indigenous communities is characterized as a serious public health problem, because the phenomenon is inaccessible to many health professionals and managers, besides, it brings daily consequences to traditional populations. This dissertation consists of two studies. The first one is a systematic review, which aims to summarize the evidence to see which instruments are used to evaluate the use of alcohol in indigenous populations. Medline databases were searched (Pubmed), Cochrane library, Psycoinfo, Lilacs, including gray literature and manual search. Of 675 publications found, 30 studies were included, which used 20 different instruments to evaluate the use of alcohol in indigenous. Through the knowledge of tools for assessment of alcohol consumption by indigenous peoples, this research contributes to the research on the evaluation and the use of instruments in traditional contexts. The second article describes an empirical survey with indigenous leaders of Maxakali ethnicity. It was developed the Evaluation System of Use and Losses Alcohol in the Maxakali, based on the instruments located on the first study, consisting of 35 questions that address the historical, collective and individual use of alcohol. An initial evaluation using the instrument was made, with six indigenous leaders of Maxakali ethnicity. The responses of the indigenous were subjected to content analysis. The results showed that all participants reported having done the consumption of alcohol, the cachaça (a type of firewater) was recognized as the most consumed beverage, and two individuals recognized the need to seek treatment for their problematic consumption. Therefore, this study makes it possible to advance in the construction of an indigenous assessment system on the national scene and provides the construction of new studies in indigenous areas with a focus on assessment, prevention and treatment of alcohol abuse.