Abstract
Suicide is one of the most important public health problems worldwide especially among teenagers and adults under 35 years old. Poisoning is a common method of suicide, especially in the developing countries. The aim of this work is to evaluate the suicidal poisoning problem among patients attending at the Menoufia Poison Control Center (MPCC) at Menoufia University Hospital over two years (from the first of January 2013 to the end of December 2014), The study showed that The total number of suicidal poisoning cases arrived at Menoufia Poison Control Center at Menoufia University Hospital over the two years of study (2013 and 2014) was 1240 patients which represented 28.46% of the total number of poisoning cases arrived at the same period (4357cases). Suicidal poisoning was more common among females, (73.55%). Patients from urban areas represented 56.85%. 64.92% of patients were single, the most vulnerable age group was 18-30 years old, Pesticides were the most commonly used substance (45.32%). Family conflict represented (45.56%) of causes, followed by educational problems (15.00%), financial (14.52%), romantic causes (11.29%), unknown cause (8.95%) and lastly psychiatric disease (4.60%). 57.5% of cases of suicidal poisoning were classified as mild according to poisoning severity score.
Highlights
Suicide is one of the most important public health problems worldwide especially among teenagers and adults under 35 years old (Aggarwal 2009)
Rates of suicide have increased by 60% from the 1960s to 2012 and these increases seen primarily in the developing world according to the World Health Organization (WHO)( Hawton and van Heeringen, 2009, WHO 2012)
The total number of suicidal poisoning cases arrived at Menoufia Poison Control Center at Menoufia University Hospital over the two years of study (2013 and 2014) was 1240 patients which represented 28.46% of the total number of poisoning cases arrived at the same period (4357cases)
Summary
Suicide is one of the most important public health problems worldwide especially among teenagers and adults under 35 years old (Aggarwal 2009). The World Health Organization (WHO) defines suicide as the deliberate act of killing oneself. Rates of suicide have increased by 60% from the 1960s to 2012 and these increases seen primarily in the developing world according to the World Health Organization (WHO)( Hawton and van Heeringen, 2009, WHO 2012). Suicide rates in Africa (0.5%) considered to be the least, compared to other continents (South-East Asia 1.9% Americas 1.2% and Europe 1.4%) (Värnik, 2012). Poisoning is a common method of suicide, especially in the developing countries and it has become an increasingly common response to emotional distress in young adults (Vijayakumar 2004). Drug overdose is commonly taken for suicidal poisoning in developed countries (Michel et al, 2000)
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