This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (1) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Rajasuriar, R. Articles by Rahmat, H.R.B.H. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rajasuriar, R. Articles by Rahmat, H.R.B.H. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Poisoning Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Profile of poisoning admissions in Malaysia

Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Malaysia, reena{at}um.edu.my

R. Awang

National Poison Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

S.B.H. Hashim

Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health, Malaysia

H.R.B.H. Rahmat

Disease Control Division, Ministry of Health, Malaysia

We retrospectively reviewed poisoning admissions to all government health facilities from 1999 to 2001, in an effort to expand our current knowledge on poisoning in Malaysia to a level that better reflects a nationwide burden. There were 21 714 admissions reported with 779 deaths. The case-fatality rate was 35.88/1000 admissions. The majority of admissions (89.7%) and deaths (98.9%) occurred in adults. Some 55.1% of all admissions were female, mostly involving pharmaceutical agents. Male poisoning admissions were more often due to chemical substances. The prevalence of poisoning and death was highest among Indians compared to all other races in Malaysia. Overall, the majority of poisoning admissions were due to pharmaceutical agents, with agents classified as non-opioid analgesics, antipyretics and anti-rheumatics the most common. Pesticides accounted for the largest number of fatalities. It was also the commonest substance reported in cases of intentional self-harm. Most cases of poisoning admissions occurred due to accidental exposure (47%), followed by cases of intentional self-harm (20.7%). Overall, this study has managed to contribute substantial additional information regarding the epidemiology of poisoning in Malaysia, highlighting important issues, such as the rampant poisonings involving pesticides and analgesics, as well as the high prevalence of poisoning among Indians in Malaysia. Human & Experimental Toxicology (2007) 26, 73- 81

Key Words: epidemiology • hospital admission • Malaysia • pesticides • poisoning

Human & Experimental Toxicology, Vol. 26, No. 2, 73-81 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0960327107071857


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M Corriols, J Marin, J Berroteran, L M Lozano, and I Lundberg Incidence of acute pesticide poisonings in Nicaragua: a public health concern Occup. Environ. Med., March 1, 2009; 66(3): 205 - 210. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]