Occurrence, overall rate and prognosticators of acute poisoning in emergency department of Mettu Karl Referral Hospital, Southwest Oromia, Ethiopia: A retrospective cross-sectional study

Abstract

poisoning events are responsible for more than one million illnesses annually [4]. Patients with acute poisoning have highly variable clinical presentations, making diagnosis difficult, especially in resource limited settings [5]. The prevalence, nature, mortality, and morbidity of acute poisoning vary owing to differences in socioeconomic, cultural, and health care facility level of the country [6]. Regarding the prevalence of acute poisoning in the world various retrospective hospital-based studies showed that there was a variation. For instance, a retrospective analysis of acute poisoning conducted in Iran-Tehran reported a prevalence of 5.4% [7], While in Kenya it was 0.

Outcome of Poisoning and Associated Factors Among Patients Admitted at Referral Hospitals in Northwest Ethiopia, 2022: A Multicenter Retrospective Study

“…The data were collected using a data collection checklist adapted from various previous literature with slight modifications. 1,7,[10][11][12]16 The checklist was prepared by addressing possible important variables for the study. Then, checking the completeness and consistency of the variables in the chart was performed.…”

“…The mortality rate of this study is lower than studies conducted in India 24%, 31 35%, 32 in Egypt 25% 33 and in Ethiopia 27.6%. 16 The possible justification could be due to the difference in a study setting, type of poison exposure, the season of poisoning, the time elapsed from exposure to arrival to the hospital, proper assessment of the severity of poisoning, availability of life-saving measures, and transport services.…”

“…6 In Ethiopia, studies have shown that the mortality rate from poisoning ranges from 0.3% to 27.6%. 1,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] According to studies of sub-Saharan Africa, in Ethiopia, unintentional poisoning was 3.3 per 100 000. 17 A report by the WHO estimated that nearly 200000 people die of unintentional poisoning annually.…”

“…Organophosphates (OPs) are the most common cause of poisoning because they are often available and widely used as herbicides by farmers. 16,22 Studies have shown that, for instance, personal, environmental, organizational, and clinical factors have a significant effect on the outcome of poisoning. In particular, these factor types of poison, routes, mode of transmission, source of poison, season that occurred, place of residence, dose of poisoning, level of consciousness, time of arrival, modes of transportation, triage category, gender, marital status, and duration of hospital stay.…”