Epidemiologic Characteristics and Outcomes of Drugs Poisoning in the Hamadan, Iran: (2015-2019))

Abstract

Background: Drug abuse is a global problem in most countries and poisoning caused by them has involved the emergency department (ED).  This paper aims to investigate the changes in the epidemiological pattern of poisoned cases due to drugs in Hamadan province of Iran. Methods: In this five year cross - sectional study, we assessed the epidemiologic pattern of poisoned cases due to drugs hospitalized in Farshchian - Sina Hospital of Hamadan, west Iran from March 2015 to March 2019. Results: During this period, 7199 poisoned patients referred to hospital and 1773 of them  hospitalized due to any kind of drugs.81% were male and 19% were female (p <0.001). The mean age in male cases was 40.85 ± 16.85 and in female cases was 42.37 ± 18.36. 86.4% of the cases lived in urban areas and 13.6% of them lived in rural areas. The most common drugs were opium (33%), methadone (22.7%) and methamphetamine (20.9%). In 35.1% male cases and in 45.8% female cases the most common drugs were opium and methamphetamine, respectively (p <0.001). In 79.2% of cases, overdose and in 20.5% of them, suicide attempt was the most common causes of use. Most cases were alive and only 1.7% were deceased. Conclusions: Although, poisoning by traditional drugs was still the most common cause of poisoning at the time of the study in this province, poisoning by synthetic drugs are on the rise.