Characteristics of acute adult poisoning in Gaziantep, Turkey

Background: The objective of this prospective hospital-based study was to evaluate the rate and characteristics of acute human poisoning in our province (Gaziantep City, Turkey). Methods: All cases of acute human poisonings admitted to the emergency department of the Gaziantep University Hospital, Gaziantep, Turkey, between January 2000 and December 2001, were included in the study. The rate and causes of mortality from poisoning as well as demographic data of the patients were investigated. Results: There were 179 (0.7%) poisoning cases among 25,605 patients who admitted to the emergency department. Of the poisoning cases, 64.3% were female and 35.6% were male patients. The poisoning made a peak between the ages of 16 and 25. The majority of poisonings resulted from oral ingestion with deliberate intake accounting for 78.7% of the cases. Most of the suicide attempt cases were also females. Analgesics were the most common agents (42.4%) among the drugs incriminated in poisoning. Twenty-four patients (13.7%) were admitted to intensive care unit, of whom 42% were female and 58% were male patients. Drugs for suicide attempts were the main cause of poisoning in the patients who admitted to intensive care unit. Five patients (2.8% of all cases) died in the intensive care unit. Conclusions: These data provide important preliminary information on the pattern of symptomatic poisonings in this south-east part of our country.