Drug and chemical poisoning admissions at a teaching hospital in Malaysia

Insights into hospitalization pattern for drug, medicament, and biological substance poisoning, adverse effect, and underdosing in Australia: An ecological study between 1998 and 2019

BACKGROUND

Drug, medicament, and biological substance poisoning, adverse effects, and underdosing are significant public health concerns. Gaining insight into the patterns and trends in hospitalizations caused by these occurrences is essential for the development of preventative initiatives, optimization of treatment regimens, and improvement of patient safety. The aim of this study is to examine the trend of hospitalisation related to poisoning by, adverse effect of and underdosing of drugs, medicaments and biological substances in Australia between 1998 and 2019.

METHODS

This is an ecological descriptive study that examined hospitalisation related to poisoning by, adverse effect of and underdosing of drugs, medicaments and biological substances in Australia between 1998 and 2019. A nationwide hospital admissions database was used for this study.

RESULTS

Between 1998 and 2019, a total of 683,869 hospital admission episodes were recorded in Australia. The overall annual number of hospital admissions for various reasons increased by 20.5% from 29,854 in 1998 to 35,960 in 2019, representing a decrease in hospital admission rate of 10.6% [from 158.69 (95% CI 156.90-160.49) in 1998 to 141.91 (95% CI 140.44-143.37) in 2019 per 100,000 persons, trend test, p<0.05]. Overnight-stay admissions accounted for 69.2% of the total number of hospital admissions, and 30.8% were same-day admissions. Rates of same-day hospital admission decreased by 13.3% [from 50.55 (95%CI 49.54-51.57) in 1998 to 43.81 (95%CI 43.00-44.63) in 2019 per 100,000 persons]. Rates of overnight-stay hospital admission decreased by 11.1% [from 108.14 (95%CI 106.66-109.63) in 1998 to 96.17 (95%CI 94.96-97.38) in 2019 per 100,000 persons]. Admissions related to antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic and antiparkinsonism drugs was the most prevalent hospital admissions type accounting for 26.8%. Females were responsible for 418,751 hospital admission episodes, representing 61.5% of the total number of hospital admission.

CONCLUSION

This study found that while the overall annual number of admissions increased, the rate of admission decreased over the same period. The most common reasons for admissions were antiepileptic, sedative-hypnotic, and anti-parkinsonism drugs. The study also noted increases in admissions related to anaesthetics, therapeutic gases, hormones, and their synthetic substitutes. These findings suggest a concerning rise in the suboptimal use of these medications. In order to combat the increasing incidence of this type of admissions, it is imperative to strengthen public awareness initiatives on medicine safety and abuse.

Hospital admission profile related to poisoning by, adverse effect of and underdosing of psychotropic drugs in England and Wales: An ecological study

Background

Drug poisoning is considered as one of the main principal reasons for acute care hospitals admissions, and it places a significant burden on emergency medical services resources. The aim of this study is to examine the trend of hospital admission due to poisoning by psychotropic drugs and prescriptions of psychotropic medications in England and Wales in the past 21 years.

Method

Hospital admission data from the Hospital Episode Statistics database in England and the Patient Episode Database in Wales were used in this ecological study. For the period from April 1999 to March 2020, hospital admissions data relating to poisoning by, classified by adverse effects of, and underdosing of psychiatric medications were extracted. Data on CNS drug prescriptions was collected for the time period 2004–2020.

Results

During the study period, hospital admission rate increased by19.9% [from 39.94 (95% CI 39.40–40.48) in 1999 to 47.90 (95% CI 47.34–48.45) in 2020 per 100,000 persons, trend test, p < 0.05]. The most common reason of poisoning by psychotropic drugs that lead to hospital admissions was unspecified poisoning by antidepressants (accidental (unintentional), intentional self-harm, assault, as adverse effect, and under-dosing), which accounted for 48.9% of the total number of admissions. CNS medications prescription rates increased by 56.4% [from 247629.78 (95% CI 247593.18–247666.39) in 2004 to 387372.48 (95% CI 387333.41–387411.55) in 2020 prescriptions per 100,000 persons, trend test, p < 0.001]. The most commonly prescribed CNS medications prescriptions were analgesics, antidepressant, antiepileptic, and hypnotics and anxiolytics, which accounted for: 35.0%, 28.7%, 10.0%, and 9.5%, respectively. During the study.

period between 2004 and 2020, the overall medications prescribing rate showed to be very strongly and positively correlating the hospital admissions rate with the overall poisoning by psychotropic drugs (r = 0.799; p ≤ 0.001).

Conclusion

Over the last two decades, there has been a parallel increase in the hospitalization rate for psychotropic drug poisoning and the prescription rate for CNS medications. Future research should focus on identifying high-risk populations who are more prone to psychotropic drug poisoning.

Profile of poisoning admissions in Malaysia

We retrospectively reviewed poisoning admissions to all government health facilities from 1999 to 2001, in an effort to expand our current knowledge on poisoning in Malaysia to a level that better reflects a nationwide burden. There were 21 714 admissions reported with 779 deaths. The case-fatality rate was 35.88/1000 admissions. The majority of admissions (89.7%) and deaths (98.9%) occurred in adults. Some 55.1% of all admissions were female, mostly involving pharmaceutical agents. Male poisoning admissions were more often due to chemical substances. The prevalence of poisoning and death was highest among Indians compared to all other races in Malaysia. Overall, the majority of poisoning admissions were due to pharmaceutical agents, with agents classified as non-opioid analgesics, antipyretics and anti-rheumatics the most common. Pesticides accounted for the largest number of fatalities. It was also the commonest substance reported in cases of intentional self-harm. Most cases of poisoning admissions occurred due to accidental exposure (47%), followed by cases of intentional self-harm (20.7%). Overall, this study has managed to contribute substantial additional information regarding the epidemiology of poisoning in Malaysia, highlighting important issues, such as the rampant poisonings involving pesticides and analgesics, as well as the high prevalence of poisoning among Indians in Malaysia. Human & Experimental Toxicology (2007) 26, 73- 81

Suicide attempts in Malaysia from the year 1969 to 2011

The aim of this paper is to review the literature on suicide attempts in Malaysia. PsycINFO, PubMed, and Medline databases from 1845 to 2012 and detailed manual search of local official reports from the Ministry of Health and the Malaysian Psychiatric Association and unpublished dissertations from 3 local universities providing postgraduate psychiatric training were included in the current review. A total of 38 studies on suicide attempts in Malaysia were found and reviewed. Twenty-seven (76%) of the studies on suicide attempts were descriptive studies looking at sociodemographic data, psychiatric illnesses, and methods and reasons for suicide attempts. No study has been conducted on treatment and interventions for suicide attempts and the impact of culture was rarely considered. The review showed that in order for researchers, clinicians, and public health policy makers to obtain a better understanding of suicide attempts in Malaysia, more systematic and empirically stringent methodologies and research frameworks need to be used.

A nationwide evidence-based study of factors associated with hospitalisations due to unintentional poisoning and poisoning mortality in Taiwan

The aim of this study was to explore the epidemiologic characteristics of unintentional poisoning cases and the factors associated with inpatient mortality. Data were retrieved from the National Health Insurance database from 2005 to 2007. Patients with diagnosis classifications of ICD-9-CM E850-E869 (unintentional poisoning) were selected. SPSS 18.0 software was used for the analysis. In Taiwan between 2005 and 2007, a total of 11,523 patients were hospitalised due to unintentional poisoning, with a hospitalisation rate of 16.83 per 100,000, of which 60.1% and 39.9% were attributable to drug poisoning and solid, liquid and gas substance poisoning, respectively. The hospitalisation rate in men was higher than that of women. The age group of 45-64 had the highest hospitalisation rate of 52.85 per 100,000. The inpatient mortality rate increased with the presence of the following factors: age of 65 or older, surgery or procedure, a higher Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), short length of hospital stays, acute respiratory failure, alcohol poisoning, pesticide poisoning and a higher-level hospital visited. Methanol, herbicides and organophosphorus pesticide intoxications are associated with higher mortality rates. Therefore, when caring for patients poisoned by the above agents, healthcare professionals should look out for their clinical development to ensure quality of care and to reduce mortality.

Agreement between questionnaire and medical records on some health and socioeconomic problems among poisoning cases

Background

The main objective of the present study was to evaluate the agreement between questionnaire and medical records on some health and socioeconomic problems among poisoning cases.

Methods

Cross-sectional sample of 100 poisoning cases consecutively admitted to the Hospital Pulau Pinang, Malaysia during the period from September 2003 to February 2004 were studied. Data on health and socioeconomic problems were collected both by self-administered questionnaire and from medical records. Agreement between the two sets of data was assessed by calculating the concordance rate, Kappa (k) and PABAK. McNemar statistic was used to test differences between categories.

Results

Data collected by questionnaire and medical records showed excellent agreement on the "marital status"; good agreements on "chronic illness", "psychiatric illness", and "previous history of poisoning"; and fair agreements on "at least one health problem", and "boy-girl friends problem". PABAK values suggest better agreements' measures.

Conclusion

There were excellent to good agreements between questionnaire and medical records on the marital status and most of the health problems and fair to poor agreements on the majority of socioeconomic problems. The implications of those findings were discussed.

Presentations of patients of poisoning and predictors of poisoning-related fatality: findings from a hospital-based prospective study

BACKGROUND

Poisoning is a significant public health problem worldwide and is one of the most common reasons for visiting emergency departments (EDs), but factors that help to predict overall poisoning-related fatality have rarely been elucidated. Using 1512 subjects from a hospital-based study, we sought to describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of poisoning patients and to identify predictors for poisoning-related fatality.

METHODS

Between January 2001 and December 2002 we prospectively recruited poisoning patients through the EDs of two medical centers in southwest Taiwan. Interviews were conducted with patients within 24 hours after admission to collect relevant information. We made comparisons between survival and fatality cases, and used logistic regressions to identify predictors of fatality.

RESULTS

A total of 1512 poisoning cases were recorded at the EDs during the study period, corresponding to an average of 4.2 poisonings per 1000 ED visits. These cases involved 828 women and 684 men with a mean age of 38.8 years, although most patients were between 19 and 50 years old (66.8%), and 29.4% were 19 to 30 years. Drugs were the dominant poisoning agents involved (49.9%), followed by pesticides (14.5%). Of the 1512 patients, 63 fatalities (4.2%) occurred. Paraquat exposure was associated with an extremely high fatality rate (72.1%). The significant predictors for fatality included age over 61 years, insufficient respiration, shock status, abnormal heart rate, abnormal body temperature, suicidal intent and paraquat exposure.

CONCLUSION

In addition to well-recognized risk factors for fatality in clinical settings, such as old age and abnormal vital signs, we found that suicidal intent and ingestion of paraquat were significant predictors of poisoning-related fatality. Identification of these predictors may help risk stratification and the development of preventive interventions.

Childhood and adolescence poisoning in NSW, Australia: an analysis of age, sex, geographic, and poison types

OBJECTIVE

This study aims to investigate whether there is any association between the types of poison substances and geographic locations for different age groups and sex.

DESIGN

This is a population based epidemiological study utilising routinely collected inpatient statistics.

SETTING

Data are collected as part of the routine vital health information system via all hospitals in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

PATIENTS

All patients aged between 0-19 years who were admitted to a hospital because of poisoning by the four major types of substances that were defined in the study in NSW in 2000.

MAIN RESULTS

The standardised incidence ratios of poisoning related hospitalisation between metropolitan and rural areas varied across different poison types when compared with the NSW average. While there are few differences between metropolitan and rural areas for analgesic and chemical related poisoning admissions across different age groups and sex, differences in the standardised incidence ratios between geographic locations for psychotropic and venom related poisoning admissions were found. No significant difference in standardised mortality ratios were found between metropolitan and rural areas except for females in the 10-14 years age group (standardised mortality ratio 3.24, 95% confidence interval 1.69 to 6.21).

CONCLUSIONS

The results obtained in this study, on the whole, provide some evidence for an association between poison types and geographic locations for psychotropic and venom related poisoning.