Epidemiology of acute poisonings during 2003–2007 in toxicology unit, department of occupational medicine and toxicology, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland

• Authors: Anna Krakowiak , Małgorzata Kotwica , Konrad Śliwkiewicz , Anna Piekarska-Wijatkowska

Abstracts

EN

Objectives: The epidemiology of acute poisonings, observed in Toxicology Unit in Łódź, is the main objective of the study. The authors present frequency of respective kinds of poisoning cases and associated mortality. They discuss also the structure of poisonings with regard to type and causative agents over a period between 2003 and 2007. Materials and methods: The data used for the analysis were obtained from National Poison Information Center in Łódź. They were divided into two groups. The first one comprised information about patients treated at the Toxicology Unit (TU), whereas the other one included cases treated in other hospitals and only consulted by TU staff. Results: Analysis of the data shows that overdosage of medications was the most frequent cause of hospitalization during 2006-2007. It constituted also the leading cause of deaths due to poisoning during 2003-2005. However, it was superseded during the subsequent period of 2006-2007 by intoxication with alcohols which was associated with the highest number of deaths in the latter period. Situation changed dynamically also with regard to the intention of poisoning. Suicidal poisonings constituted the largest group in 2003, whereas poisonings caused by abuse, including dependence-related abuse, were the most frequent in subsequent years. Patients between 15 and 30 years old formed the largest group among the total number of poisonings. Conclusions: The results of our study on epidemiology of acute poisoning in Łódź between 2003-2007 show that poisoning is a frequent cause of admission to hospital and constitutes a major health problem in Łódź district because of large number of hospital admissions, associated mortality and the high proportion of patients at young age.

Keywords

EN

poisonings; epidemiology; statistics; Łódź; Poland

• Publisher: Instytut Medycyny Pracy im. prof. dra Jerzego Nofera w Łodzi
• Journal: International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health
• Year: 2011
• Volume: 24
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 199-207

Dates

published

2011

Contributors

author

Anna Krakowiak

• Toxicology Unit, Department of Occupational Diseases and Toxicology, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland

author

Małgorzata Kotwica

• National Poison Information Centre, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland

author

Konrad Śliwkiewicz

• Toxicology Unit, Department of Occupational Diseases and Toxicology, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland

author

Anna Piekarska-Wijatkowska

• National Poison Information Centre, Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine, Łódź, Poland

Identifiers

DOI

10.2478/s13382-011-0016-0

Biblioteka Nauki

2185360