title: Escitalopram ingestions reported to Texas poison control centers, 2002-2005.
abstract: Limited information exists on potentially adverse escitalopram ingestions reported to poison control centers. Using isolated escitalopram ingestions reported to Texas poison control centers during 2002-2005, the proportion of cases involving serious medical outcomes was determined for selected variables and evaluated for statistical significance by calculating the rate ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Of 1179 cases identified, 234 (20%) involved serious outcomes. Serious outcomes were significantly more likely to occur with a maximum dose of >100 mg (RR 4.69, CI 2.52-9.29) or >5 tablets (RR 4.96, CI 2.94-8.93), where the circumstances of the exposures involved self-harm or malicious intent (RR 3.21, CI 2.42-4.29), or when the patient was already at or en route to a health care facility when the poison control center was contacted (RR 7.88, CI 4.31-15.79) or referred to a health care facility by the poison control center (RR 15.91, CI 8.78-31.64). The severity of the outcome associated with isolated escitalopram ingestions depended on the dose and the circumstances of the ingestion. The management of patients with serious outcomes were more likely to involve health care facilities. Such information is useful for creating triage guidelines for the management of escitalopram ingestions.
authors: Texas Department of State Health Services, Austin, Texas 78756, USA. mathias.forrester@dshs.state.tx.us
authors: M B
authors: MB
authors: Forrester
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000465:Algorithms; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015283:Citalopram / Q000506:poisoning* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018802:Patient-Centered Care / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011039:Poison Control Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000506:poisoning / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012737:Sex Factors; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013607:Tablets; D013781:Texas; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D015283:Citalopram; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; D013607:Tablets