title: A meta-analysis of the reliability of the history in suspected poisoning.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Management of acute poisoning depends on the reliability of history of the poisoning event.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to perform a meta-analysis from published data to determine summary measures of reliability of history in suspected acute poisoning.
  
  
  METHODS
  Relevant studies were selected from a search on the Medline database to perform a meta-analysis to calculate pooled estimates of κ statistic for agreement between history of poisoning and laboratory diagnosis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of seven articles were included in the meta-analysis. The κ statistic varied from 0.35 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.135-0.558) for 3,4-methylenedioxy-N-methylamphetamine (MDMA, also known as ecstasy) to 0.69 (95% CI 0.648-0.733) for paracetamol.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A history of paracetamol ingestion is moderately reliable, and further evaluation is required to make a clinical diagnosis of acute poisoning with street drugs.
authors.affiliation: Mater Dei Hospital, Msida, Malta.
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Camilleri
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000506:poisoning; D000208:Acute Disease; D003042:Cocaine / Q000506:poisoning; D062787:Drug Overdose / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008487:Medical History Taking; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine / Q000506:poisoning; D009294:Narcotics / Q000506:poisoning; D011041:Poisoning / Q000175:diagnosis
chemical_list: D009294:Narcotics; D000082:Acetaminophen; D003042:Cocaine; D018817:N-Methyl-3,4-methylenedioxyamphetamine
keywords: acute poisoning; diagnosis; history; laboratory; poisoning; reliability