Data from the National Poison Centre (NPC) showed that the highest number of poisoning incidents in Malaysia were caused by pharmaceutical products, whereby psychiatric drugs contributed to the most number of cases. While intentional poisoning receives more attention, unintentional poisoning is often overlooked. Therefore, the study designs to evaluate the unintentional poisoning of psychiatric drugs in Malaysia. Telephone enquiries regarding psychiatric drug poisoning were made by healthcare providers to the NPC. Information received was entered into a retrievable database by Drugs and Poison Information Service in the form of a standardized Poison Case Report Form as adapted from the World Health Organization. A retrospective analysis was performed, and data on unintentional poisoning were extracted and evaluated. A total of 619 poisoning cases of psychiatric drugs were reported, whereby 28% (n=133) were caused unintentionally. Demographic analysis showed Perak to record the highest number of cases at 16.5% (n=22), followed by Johor (13.5%, n=18) and Sabah (12.8%, n=17). Unintentional psychiatric poisoning showed almost equal distribution between genders, and Malays reported the highest number at 47.4% (n=63). More than half of the cases (58.6%) occurred among toddlers between 1-4 years old, followed by 17.3% cases among children and adolescents between 5-14 years old. Most of the incidents (99.2%) happened at home, and 88% were due to accidental ingestions. Unintentional poisoning in the household of psychiatric patients has been underestimated, and toddlers and children have been majorly implicated. Therefore, proper education and awareness must be established to ensure human safety.
The aim of the present paper is to evaluate the Malaysian Toxicological Database (MyToxData), a newly developed system for toxicological data management. MyToxData is a local system for collection of case reporting and toxicity statistics as well as its database of chemical products and toxicity information. An online questionnaire using JotForm was distributed among healthcare professionals in Malaysian hospitals. The participants were asked to perform tasks on MyToxData system before rating their satisfaction experience. The questionnaire was adopted from previous literature and comprised 12 items, each having a five-point scale that ranged from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree. The collected data were then analysed using the SPSS software package. Based on the results, the satisfaction testing showed a high satisfaction score for the login at 95.7% and case registration and toxicological/poisoning case notification at 65.2%. The poisoning substance identification component received a 78.2% agreement on the usefulness with a very high acceptance of 91.3% on the treatment and clinical information retrieval made available on the system. One sample t-test found that all constructs for the satisfaction testing of MyToxData, namely, accuracy, content, ease of use, format and timeliness, were significant. The higher acceptance by healthcare professionals on the satisfaction testing of MyToxData has identified the effectiveness of the development and subsequent usage of a dedicated system for toxicological data management.
A BSTRACT Background and Purpose: The wide availability of medications has led to an increased exposure of humans to the possibility of poisoning. An unavoidable effect due to the availability of these medications has also led to a rising increment in the number of poisoning cases. All drugs, especially when administered in large doses or overextended periods, can initiate a toxic condition. Therefore, the objective of this study was to examine nationwide, the patterns attributed to poisoning, and to describe the sociodemographic, and geographic distribution of poisoning, by identifying the category of substances implicated in these cases. Data Sources and Methods: A retrospective study based on telephone calls reported on poisoning caused by pharmaceutical products undertaken by the National Poisoning Centre (NPC) in Penang (Malaysia) was used as the basis of this study covering the period between 2010 and 2015. The study included the mode and type of poisoning, exposure routes as well as the incidence locations. Results: A total of 10,998 cases were examined, finding that females represented 5,899 cases (53.6%) being intoxicated more frequently compared to the number of males, 3,839 (34.9%). The age group of poisoning cases ranged between 20 and 29 years representing 2,579 (23.4%) of reported cases. The common mode of poisoning was attributed to suicide 5,203 (47.3%) from among the 10,998 cases and the highest poisoning agents reported were from the psychiatric group of pharmaceutical products of 2,287 (21%). Conclusion and Implications: These findings indicate a rising trend of suicidal poisoning attempts between 2013 and 2015, which emphasizes the need for more stringent and effective enforcement protocols to limit the rising incidence of poisoning. As such, analyzing the trends in poisoning in a particular zone periodically could help health policy-makers to develop management policies and prevention strategies.
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