Non-medicinal poisoning pattern in adults referred to the 5Azar hospital of Gorgan from 2008 to 2015

Abstract

Background & Objective: Poisonings are of the major public health challenges. Non-medicinal poisonings are of the most common types and causes of referring to medical centers worldwide. The present study was aimed to determine the non-medicinal poisonings pattern in adults of Gorgan city. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted on all non-medicinal poisoned patients referred to the 5Azar hospital from 2008 – 2015. Data were collected on checklists using census data collection method and were analyzed by Stata 11.0 software using Pearson’s Chi- square test. Results: Of all 800 admitted poisoning cases, 227 individuals were non-medicinal and mostly male (72.7%). The ages of 34.4 % of cases were between 20 and 29 years. Moreover, 68.7% of all cases were living in urban areas, 57.7% were married and 27.8% were educated up to high school. Poisonings mostly occurred during summer (30%) and intentional (suicidal) poisonings were known as the major form (47.1%). Opium and aluminum phosphide were the most important poisoning agents (54.2%). Finally, 29 patients (12.8%) had passed away where aluminum phosphide poisoning was the main reason (55.2%). Conclusion: Intentional poisonings by opium and aluminum phosphide were identified as the main causes of non-medicinal poisonings. It is necessary to emphasize on educational programs, prevention methods and general awareness.

Keywords

• poisoning
• non-medicinal
• opium
• aluminum phosphide