Pattern of Acute Adult Poisoning in Gorgan, North of Iran

Abstract

Acute poisoning is a serious global problem. The aim of this study was to identify the trends and characteristics of acute poisoning in Gorgan, North of Iran. The study was carried out retrospectively on acute adult poisoning cases who were hospitalized in 5^th Azar Hospital of Gorgan, from March 2008 to March 2015. Data were obtained from patient records in a preset checklist. Stata software (version 11) was used for data analysis. Of 800 patients, 55.88% were men and 44% were aged 20-29 years. The majority of patients (75.38%) lived in urban areas. Poisoning occurred mostly in summer and the peak was observed in Aug. Most of the poisoning agents were pharmaceuticals (71.62%). Among the pharmaceutical agents, benzodiazepines were involved most often. Overall, 38 patients (4.75%) died. The highest number of deaths was due to aluminum phosphide poisoning (42.10%). Intentional poisoning were identified as the main kind of poisoning, In addition, family quarrel was the main cause of intentional poisoning (31.60%).There were significant differences between poisoning and demographics characteristics including gender (P=0.001), age group (P<0.001), marital status (P<0.001), employment status (P<0.001) and educational status (P<0.001). Intentional poisoning by pharmaceutical agents were identified as the main cause of poisoning. Finally, people with these characteristics should be targeted prevention and educational programs against intentional poisoning.