Quantitative risk assessment of suicide by self-poisoning among women in Morocco

Abstract

Suicide by self-poisoning is a major public health problem worldwide both in terms of morbidity and mortality. This study aims to discuss its epidemiological features and to identify the potential factors of clinical outcome among women in Morocco. A retrospective study spanning 34 years examined a number of characteristics of suicide cases among women by poisoning in Morocco based on the database of health monitoring system of Moroccan Poison Control Center (MPCC). A total of 17,012 women have experienced at least one suicidal poisoning, with 346 confirmed deaths (3.1% if we consider the known clinical outcome). The annual number of registered cases increased year by year [min = 4 cases; max = 1166 cases]. The average age was 23.4 years old. The home was the main place for the suicide of Moroccan women. The most common method of suicide was drug overdose (54.8%) especially in women under 65. More than half of the victims had developed gastro-intestinal disorders (54.1%) associated or not with other disorders. Most of the poisonings needed only gastrointestinal decontamination (77.6%). According to the results of the multiple regression analysis, age (ORa = 1.017; 95%IC [1.003–1.031]; p < 0.05), incriminated product represented by drugs (ORa = 0.218; 95%IC [0.105–0.454]; p < 0.001), pesticides (ORa = 4.821; 95%IC [2.719–8.547]; p < 0.001), mineral products (ORa = 18.242; 95%IC [9.169–36.293]; p < 0.001) and plants (ORa = 3.748; 95%IC [1.483–9.470]; p < 0.01), as well as origin of the suicide victims (ORa = 1.505; 95%IC [1.082–2.095]; p < 0.05) explain the observed variability of the evolution of clinical outcome. In reality, the number of women who have committed or attempted to suicide by deliberate ingestion of toxic products must be much higher. High variability of suicide rates exists across different epidemiologic characteristics. This study may lead to better treatment of patients and also help to collect better data about the problem.