Substance Abuse Poisoning Reported to the Poisons Information Centre Erfurt from 2002 to 2016

Abstract

Poisoning due to substance abuse has changed significantly during the last few years. Therefore, developments of substance abuse reported to the Poisons Information Centre Erfurt were investigated and compared to other circumstances of human exposures during the last 15 years. Retrospective analysis of all cases of human exposures (intentional abuse, accidental and unknown circumstances, and suicide attempts) for the period 2002-2016 according to substance classes, reasons of exposures, symptom severity, age groups, and gender. Cases of substance abuse (n=7,237, 3.5% of all exposures) continuously increased from 250 (159 with one and 91 with multiple substances) in 2002 to 830 in 2016 (398 with one and 432 with multiple substances). Cases of exposure to metamphetamine strongly increased from 10 in 2003 to 100 in 2012 and dropped to 52 in 2016. Cases of exposure to new psychoactive substances (NPS) rose from 1 in 2008 to 130 in 2015 and fell to 90 in 2016. Substance abuse significantly (p<0.001) more often caused moderate (29.1%) and severe symptoms (5.8%) than suicide attempts (11.6%; 4.9%). NPS and their subgroup synthetic cannabinoids led significantly (p<0.001 and 0.025) more frequently to moderate and severe symptoms (46.9% and 43.6%; 7.9% and 6.0%) than cannabis exposure (19.7%; 2.1%). Clinical significance of substance abuse is shown by the fact that it resulted more often in moderate and severe symptoms than suicide attempts. Data of substance abuse from PICs could supplement those on clinical toxicology in official annual drug reports.