Knowledge derived from studies on crack: an incursion into Brazilian dissertations and theses

• Published in: Ciência & saude coletiva Vol. 17; no. 5; pp. 1247 - 1258
• Main Authors: Rodrigues, Diego Schaurich, Dirce Stein Backes, Hilda Maria Barbosa de Freitas, Zamberlan, Claudia, Gelhen, Maria Helena, Juliana Silveira Colomé
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: Portuguese
• Published: Rio de Janeiro Associação Brasileira de Saúde Coletiva 01-05-2012
• Subjects: Acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS; Dissertations & theses; HIV; Human immunodeficiency virus; Knowledge management
• ISSN: 1413-8123; 1678-4561
• DOI: 10.1590/S1413-81232012000500018

This is a systematic review based on the integrative review method, which sought to analyze the characteristics of knowledge produced by studies on crack, in Brazilian Master's and Doctoral courses. The investigation comprised 33 studies (18 dissertations and 15 theses). Among them, 51.5% were from the Health Science area with emphasis on the Postgraduate Program in Psychiatry (and Medical Psychology), which provided five dissertations/theses. Most of the knowledge on the epidemic (51.5%) are from the Universidade Federal de São Paulo and Universidade de São Paulo, with the largest number of studies (81.8%) concentrated in the southeast. The themes most analyzed were: organic alterations, drug trafficking and crack use, HIV/Aids, types and strategies of treatment. The results showed that Brazilian stricto sensu knowledge about crack is still incipient, sketchy and ineffectual, albeit promising due to demands and implications that this epidemic imposes upon society.