title: Acute poisoning cases admitted to a university hospital emergency department in Diyarbakir, Turkey.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was conducted to determine the biological effects of acute poisoning, the nature of agents involved and the pattern of poisoning in Diyarbakir City, in the Southeast Anatolian region of Turkey, during 2000.
  
  
  METHODS
  Hospital records of all admissions to the Emergency Department (ED) of Dicle University Hospital following acute poisoning were revised and all data from January to December 2000 were analysed. The present study included 44 (25.9%) male (M) and 126 (74.1%) female (F), a total of 170 patients. The M/F ratio was 1.0/3.5.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of patients was 23.3+/-6.3 years; 63 (37.1%) of them were under 20 years of age and 147 (86.5%) were under 30 years of age. Most intoxication cases occurred during the summer season (93 of 170 patients). On a monthly basis, admissions during April, May and July were most common (24, 26 and 30 patients, respectively). Sixty-two (36.5%) cases involved accidental poisoning while 108 (63.5%) involved deliberate poisoning. In suicide attempts, intoxications were more common in females (77 cases, 71.3%, P < 0.05), and in unmarried persons (74 cases, 68.5%, P < 0.05). There were only two deaths (1.2%) among the 170 admissions of acute poisonings. One of the deaths was due to pesticide poisoning and the other was due to medical drug abuse. Tachycardia (59, 34.7%), vomiting (55, 32.4%) and loss of consciousness (42, 24.7%) were frequently observed, whereas hypersecretion (15, 8.8%), bradycardia (5, 2.9%), convulsion (8, 4.7%) and hypertension (2, 1.2%) were less frequent. Among pesticide poisoning cases the incidence of convulsion (6, 10.2%), miosis (6, 10.2%), and hypersecretion (12, 20.3%) were significantly higher when compared to other cases (P=0.018, P <0.0001 and P <0.0001, respectively).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In the Southeast Anatolian region of Turkey, pesticide intoxication is common especially among young, unmarried females and most of these intoxications are intentional self-poisonings. The annual rate of poisoning-related ED visits and mortality were found to be within expected ranges; psychoactive agents being the most common cause.
authors.affiliation: Dicle University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of First Aid and Emergency Medicine, Diyarbakir, Turkey. cahgul@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Cahfer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Güloğlu
authors.forename: Ismail Hamdi
authors.initials: IH
authors.lastname: Kara
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010575:Pesticides / Q000506:poisoning; D011041:Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000628:therapy*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012737:Sex Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D010575:Pesticides