title: Factors associated with adult poisoning in northern Malaysia: a case-control study.
abstract: Data on adult risk factors associated with drug or chemical poisonings in Malaysia are scarce. The objective of the study was to identify possible risk factors associated with adult admissions to the Penang General Hospital (PGH) due to chemical poisoning and/or drug overdose. The present study was a case-control study, conducted over 18 weeks. One hundred acutely poisoned adult patients admitted to PGH during the period from September 2003 to February 2004 were considered as cases. Two hundred patients admitted to the same medical wards for other illnesses, during the same period, were matched for age and gender with the poisoned cases and thus selected as controls. McNemar test and binary logistic were used for univariate analysis and logistic regression analysis for multivariate analyses. The odds ratio (OR) and its 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated for each predictor variable. Positive histories of psychiatric illness and previous poisoning, problems in boy/girl friend relationships, family problems, marital problems, Indian ethnicity, Chinese ethnicity, living in rented houses and living in a household with less than five people were significant risk factors associated with adult admissions due to poisoning.
authors.affiliation: Drug Information Centre, Directorate of Pharmacy, Ministry of Health Khartoum State, PO. Box 1517, Khartoum, Sudan.
authors.forename: A I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Fathelrahman
authors.forename: A F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Ab Rahman
authors.forename: Z Mohd
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Zain
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Tengku
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China / Q000208:ethnology; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006795:Household Products / Q000506:poisoning; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000208:ethnology; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011041:Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors