Intentional and unintentional poisoning in Pakistan: a pilot study using the Emergency Departments surveillance project

BMC Emergency Medicine

Research

Uzma Rahim Khan¹  Asher Feroze¹  Nudrat Shamim¹  Naureen Naseer¹  Nadeem Ullah Khan¹  Junaid Abdul Razzak²  Adnan A Hyder³  Ricardo Pérez-Núñez⁴ 

[1] Department of Emergency Medicine, Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan;Department of Emergency Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA;The author was affiliated with the Department of Emergency Medicine, Aga Khan University, at the time when study was conducted, Karachi, Pakistan;International Injury Research Unit, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA;International Injury Research Unit, Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA;Health Systems Research Centre of the National Institute of Public Health, Cuernavaca, Mexico;

关键词: poisoning;    emergency department;    Pakistan;    injury;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-227X-15-S2-S2

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAcute poisoning is one of the most common reasons for emergency department visits around the world. In Pakistan, the epidemiological data on poisoning is limited due to an under developed poison information surveillance system. We aim to describe the characteristics associated with intentional and unintentional poisoning in Pakistan presenting to emergency departments.MethodsThe data was extracted from the Pakistan National Emergency Department Surveillance (Pak-NEDS) which was an active surveillance conducted between November 2010 and March 2011. All patients, regardless of age, who presented with poisoning to any of Pakistan's seven major tertiary care centers' emergency departments, were included. Information about patient demographics, type of poisoning agent, reason for poisoning and outcomes were collected using a standard questionnaire.ResultsAcute poisoning contributed to 1.2% (n = 233) of patients with intentional and unintentional injuries presenting to EDs of participating centers. Of these, 68% were male, 54% were aged 19 to 44 and 19% were children and adolescents (<18 years). Types of poisoning included chemical/gas (43.8%), drug/medicine (27%), alcohol (16.7%) and food/plant (6%). In half of all patients the poisoning was intentional. A total of 11.6% of the patients were admitted and 6.6% died.ConclusionPoisoning causes more morbidity and mortality in young adults in Pakistan compared to other age groups, half of which is intentional. Improving mental health, regulatory control for hazardous chemicals and better access to care through poison information centers and emergency departments will potentially help control the problem.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Khan et al. 2015