Socio-demographic profile of pesticide poisoning cases admitted in a rural hospital of West Bengal

Abstract

Background: In developing countries acute pesticide poisoning remains an important issue and according to WHO (1999) more than three million poisoning cases with 251,881 deaths occur worldwide annually, of which, 99% of fatal poisonings occur in developing countries, particularly among agricultural workers. Objectives: The objectives were to study the socio-demographic profile of the pesticide poisoning cases, explore the circumstances and routes of poisoning and determine the time gap between the intake of poison and hospital admission. Materials and methods: It was an institution based observational descriptive study with cross-sectional design. The study was conducted in Tarakeswar rural hospital of Hooghly district, West Bengal. The duration of study was 6 months (January – June 2015). All diagnosed and admitted pesticide poisoning cases in the IPD of Tarakeswar Rural Hospital during the study period constituted the study population. A predesigned, pretested semi structured schedule was used for collecting background information from the study population. Pre-testing was conducted to assess the feasibility, acceptability and reliability of the tool. Study sample was diagnosed pesticide poisoning cases admitted in the hospital during the days of survey. Admission register of the poisoning ward, Bed-Head Tickets (BHTs) and investigation reports were checked for collecting some necessary information. Circumstances of poisoning, routes of poisoning and presence of social problems were explored from the study population. Total 61 admitted cases participated in the study. Data were tabulated in Microsoft excel spread sheet. Appropriate statistical methods were used for analysis and interpretation. Results: Median age was found 25 years and majority (65.6%) of the subjects was from 16-30 years of age group. Male (49.1%) and females (50.9%) were almost equally involved. Majority (83.4%) of the study population were from rural area. Regarding poisoning circumstances, majority were found to be suicidal (77%) followed by accidental (16.4%) and occupational (6.6%). Majority of the poisoning (65.6%) was found to be due to organophosphorus. Median time taken to admit the subjects in the study hospital after poisoning was calculated to be 6 hours. Significant associations (p<0.05) are found between suicide attempt with social problems, addiction and family type. Conclusion: There is a need of more detailed study to better elicit and understand the important factors related to pesticide poisoning. Some important facts revealed in the current study will be better understood if larger population can be involved in a more detailed study in order to help in more generalization of the results.