Studying the Relationship Between Age, Gender and Other Demographic Factors with the Type of Agent Used for Self-Poisoning at a Poisoning Referral Center in North West Iran

Each year, a large number of people are exposed to different poisons and are hospitalized all over the world, exhausting a substantial share of health resources. Self-poisoning is one of the commonest acute medical presentations in Iran. Studies conducted in different parts of Iran including Tehran, Mashhad and Babol, all point to the high prevalence of poisoning due to drugs and chemicals. The exact number of the poisoning cases is hard to determine, but the statistical analysis on the reports sent from reference poisoning hospitals and other poison centers, suggest that 70-90% of severe poisoning cases are first brought to Emergency Department (ED) (1, 2). These statistics however, do not represent all poisoning cases. Abstract