Epidemiology of Acute Poisoning in Mazandaran Province, Iran

Poisoning is a critical medical emergency worldwide. The present study aimed to determine the characteristics and treatment outcomes of patients admitted to the poisoning department.

This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from March 2015 to September 2016 (for 18 months). We explored the epidemiology of poisoned patients hospitalized at Razi and Imam hospitals in Mazandaran Province, Iran. The obtained results were described as the frequency of poisoning, percentages, confidence intervals (95% CI), and mean values. The standard deviation scores were also presented for quantitative variables. The Student t-test and Chi-squared test were used for data analysis.

The prevalence rate of poisoning equaled 4.98% of the total hospitalized patients. Of 71192 of the investigated cases, 3544 patients were hospitalized for acute poisoning. In terms of poisoning type, 65.2% belonged to drug toxicity, (95% CI) (64.7-77.2); 6.7% were related to methadone; 5.7% to an agricultural pesticide; 4.15% to aluminum phosphide (rice tablets); 2.2% to rat poison paste, and the remaining cases were caused by other poisons. There was a gender-wise significant difference in the poisoning method (P<0.001). The mortality rate in this study was calculated as 1.71% of all cases. The most frequent causes of death were aluminum phosphide (33.33%) and narcotics (16.16%) poisonings.

Acute poisoning is a fundamental health problem in Mazandaran Province, i.e., located in the north of Iran. Pharmaceutical medications, opioid agents, and aluminum phosphide were the main means of poisoning in the investigated adult patients. Most cases of poisoning occurred in the young-adult groups. Aluminum phosphide and organophosphate agents consumption generated the most critical states and were the main causes of death. It is suggested that aluminum phosphate be recalled from the market, as appropriate training must be provided for its proper use.