Epidemiological Study of Deaths due to Carbon Monoxide Poisoning Referred to Forensic Medicine in Mazandaran, Iran

Abstract

Background: Carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning is the leading cause of death as a result of poisoning. Objective: This study aimed to investigate the epidemiology and prevalence of CO poisoning in Mazandaran province from 2016 to 2018. Methods: This is a descriptive-analytical and retrospective study on the information obtained from the files of the deceased individuals who died because of CO poisoning in the forensic medicine department of Mazandaran province during the years 2016 to 2018. Results: In this study, 83 deaths due to CO poisoning were recorded. 32.5% of these people were over 50 years old, 81.9% of them were men, and 61.4% of them were married. The level of education in 92.8% of them was reported to be less than a bachelor's degree and the bedroom (66.3%) was the main place of poisoning. 56.6% of these poisonings were due to city gas poisoning and 56.6% of deaths were reported as groups death. The bruises color was rosette in 53% of the deaths. The Carboxyhemoglobin levels in most of them were +2 (63.9%) and most deaths occurred in January (19.3%). The age group, source of CO, place of poisoning, carboxyhemoglobin level, education level, and the month of poisoning was significantly different among these three years. Conclusion: CO poisoning is still a substantial public health issue. City gas is defined as the main source of CO poisoning. Low educational level was related to CO deaths. Raising the awareness of the people can reduce the number of Co poisoning cases in the Mazandaran.

Keywords

• carbon monoxide
• poisoning
• death
• epidemiology