| A Clinical Review of Acute Poisonings in Geriatric Patients from Rural Gangwon Province |
|
Jeong Yeol Lee, Jeong Yeol Seo, Moo Eob Ahn, Tae Hun Lee, Sang Heon Park, Yu Min Kim, Jung Hyuk Kim, Jun Hwi Cho, Joong Bum Moon |
1Department of Emergency Medicine, Hallym University College of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea. siris94@hanmail.net
2Department of Emergency Medicine, Kangwon National University School of Medicine, Chuncheon, Korea. |
| 강원도 농촌지역의 노인 급성 약물중독 환자에 대한 임상적 고찰 |
|
이정열1, 서정열1, 안무업1, 이태헌1, 박상헌1, 김유민1, 김정혁1, 조준휘2, 문중범2 |
|
1한림대학교 의과대학 응급의학교실, 2강원대학교 의과대학 응급의학교실 |
|
|
| Abstract |
BACKGROUND
Recently, there has been an increase in acute poisonings in the elderly, which may be associated with attempts at suicide. The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the clinical aspects and outcomes of acute poisonings in aged individuals with those of younger individuals.
METHODS
We performed a retrospective analysis of 207 patients seen in the emergency department (ED) with acute poisoning from January 2009 to December 2010. Two groups were created, >65 years and <65 years. The following were carefully compared-annual frequency, gender distribution, cause of poisoning, poisoning substance, motive for suicide, past psychiatric history, psychiatric interview, psychiatric diagnosis, disposition after ED visit, disposition after admission, poisoning severity score (PSS), duration of hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU) admission rate, and mortality.
RESULTS
The annual frequency was 0.1% in the >65 group and 0.3% in the <65 group, 0.4% in total. The cause of poisoning was accidental more often in those >65 years than in those <65 years. As motive for suicide, health problem was cited more often in the older group (p=0.000). The older group had fewer interviews with psychiatrists and were more often diagnosed with depressive disorder (p=0.010, p=0.041, respectively). PSS and mortality were higher in the older group (p=0.002, p=0.010, respectively).
CONCLUSION
A better understanding for the cause of poisonings and the poisonous substance used in the aged population is needed. And because of the more serious effects of acute poisonings to the elderly patient, they should readily receive regular comprehensive care including psychiatric care. |
| Key Words:
Aged, Poisoning |
|
PDF Links
Full text via DOI
Download Citation
