An epidemiological survey of drug poisoning and a comparison with other poisonings cases admitted to a university hospital in Gorgan, Iran, 2008-2015

Background and aims: Acute drug poisoning is a major public health problem in the world.The aim of this study was to investigate the trends and characteristics of acute drug poisoning and to compare that with other poisonings in Gorgan, Iran. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was done from March 2008 to march 2015. Data were obtained from medical records. Stata software and Pearson's chi-squared test were used for data analysis. Results: A total of 800 poisoning cases, 573 cases were due to drug poisoning. The majority of the 573 patients (50.8% male) were in the age range of 20-29 years (47.8%) and 78% of them were living in urban areas. The maximum number of poisoning occurred during summer season (27%). The most common agents involved in acute drug poisoning were sedatives-hypnotics drugs, especially BZDs (37.2%), followed by Tramadol (17.3%) and Cardiac drugs (13.1%). Poisoning most commonly occurred as ingestion of single drug (55%). More than half (77.1%) of the cases were intentional poisoning (suicide), followed by overdose (63.1%), drug abuse (51.9%) and accidental poisoning (17.3%). Moreover, the most common drug involved in intentional poisoning was BZDs (44%).9 patients (1.6%) died, of which 3(33.3%) were due to Narcotic drugs. Conclusion: Drugs were the most common cause of poisonings and the majority of acute drug poisoning in Gorgan was associated with suicide attempts. So, easy access to the most prominent methods of suicide i.e. consumption of drugs particularly BZDs should be restricted.