PLoS ONE (Jan 2014)

Long-term prognosis of patients with carbon monoxide poisoning: a nationwide cohort study.

  • Chien-Cheng Huang,
  • Min-Hsien Chung,
  • Shih-Feng Weng,
  • Chih-Chiang Chien,
  • Shio-Jean Lin,
  • Hung-Jung Lin,
  • How-Ran Guo,
  • Shih-Bin Su,
  • Chien-Chin Hsu,
  • Chi-Wen Juan

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105503
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 9, no. 8
p. e105503

Abstract

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BACKGROUND: Carbon monoxide poisoning (COP) often produces severe complications and can be fatal. Because this topic has not been well delineated, we investigated long-term prognoses of patients with COP (COP[+]). METHODS: In this retrospective nationwide cohort study, 441 COP[+] patients and 8820 COP[-] controls (120) from 1999 to 2010 were selected from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database. RESULTS: Thirty-seven (8.39%) COP[+] patients and 142 (1.61%) controls died (P<0.0001) during follow-up. Incidence rate ratios (IRR) of death were 5.24 times higher in COP[+] patients than in controls (P<0.0001). The risk of death was particularly high in the first month after COP (IRR: 308.78; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 40.79-2337.56), 1 to 6 months after (IRR: 18.92; 95% CI: 7.69-46.56), and 6-12 months after (IRR: 4.73; 95% CI: 1.02-21.90). After adjusting for age, gender, and selected comorbidities, the hazard ratio of death for COP[+] patients was still 4.097 times higher than for controls. Moreover, older age (≥30 years old), male gender, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and low income were also independent mortality predictors. CONCLUSIONS: COP significantly increases the risk for long-term mortality. Early follow-up and secondary prevention of death are needed for patients with COP.