title: Retrospective evaluation of emergency service patients with poisoning: a 3-year study.
abstract: The purpose of this retrospective study was to evaluate the characteristics of cases of acute poisoning in adults who were admitted to emergency service over a 3-year period. Clinical charts were analyzed retrospectively for etiologic and demographic patient characteristics. A total of 810 adults were admitted to the emergency center with acute poisoning. The female-to-male ratio was 2:1. Mean ages of female and male patients were 28.8+/-12.9 years and 35.1+/-15.4 years, respectively, and many patients (46.9%) were between the ages of 16 and 25 years. Medicinal drugs were found to be the primary cause (60.5%) of poisoning, and tricyclic antidepressants were the most frequent causative agents (36.3%). Seasonal distribution of poisoning cases suggested a peak in the summer months (35.4%). Overall, 68.6% of acute poisonings were suicide attempts, and of these patients, 84.9%, 14%, and 1.1% were attempting suicide for the first, second, and third times, respectively. Among 810 cases of acute poisoning, 15 were fatal. The following conclusions were reached by investigators: (1) in the test region, younger females, especially single females, were at greater risk for poisoning than other patient groups, (2) self-poisoning cases constituted the majority of all poisonings, and (3) the main agents of self-poisoning were medicinal drugs, with antidepressants used most frequently. It was also found that unintentional poisoning commonly resulted from intake of foods, especially mushrooms.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Department of Emergency Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Baydin
authors.forename: Turker
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yardan
authors.forename: Dursun
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Aygun
authors.forename: Zahide
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Doganay
authors.forename: Cemil
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nargis
authors.forename: Onur
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Incealtin
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011041:Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012621:Seasons; D013406:Suicide, Attempted