Analysis of carbon monoxide hospital admissions in England – what can we learn about accidental poisoning?

Abstract

Background Carbon monoxide (CO) is a known cause of fatalities and hospital admissions from accidental poisoning in the UK. We studied inpatient admissions due to CO exposure to provide a more accurate picture of the burden of disease in this setting and to contribute to establishing CO surveillance. Aim Admissions to hospital relating to carbon monoxide poisoning (ICD-10 code T58, ICD-9 code (986) were analysed in Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) inpatient data between 1998 and 2007. Results Total number of hospital admissions was 6068, an average of 674 per year. Initial results demonstrate that the regions with the highest relative risk for hospital admissions of CO poisoning compared to the England and Wales average are East Midlands (1.41, 95%CI 1.31-1.52) and Yorkshire and Humber (1.25, 95%CI 1.17-1.35). The number of male admissions (n=4063) were more than twice that of females (n=2005). The region with the highest rate of admissions for both males and females was the East Midlands (2.23 (95%CI: 2.04-2.44) and 1.04 (95%CI:0.91-1.18) respectively). Conclusions Little is known about the number of hospital admissions due to CO poisoning in England and Wales; the results of this study so far suggest a significant burden of CO and important gender and regional differences. Further analysis will examine trends over time, seasonal trends, rates by ethnicity and deprivation. A next step will be to investigate the sources and prevalence of CO exposure in the home.