Poisoning among Patients Presenting to the Department of Emergency Medicine of a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study.

Introduction: Poisoning is one of the major public health problems worldwide. The World Health Organization has estimated 0.3 million deaths a year due to various poisoning agents; pesticides being the leading one. Poisoning is one of the leading causes of emergency room visits. It has become a significant public health issue in Nepal. This study aimed to find out the prevalence of poisoning among patients presenting to the Department of Emergency Medicine of a tertiary care centre.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done in the Department of Emergency Medicine of a tertiary care centre from 24 June 2022 to 6 July 2022. Ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: 11/2022). Data from 765 patients were collected from the hospital records. The patient's history and clinical examination were used to make the diagnosis of poisoning. Convenience sampling method was used. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated.

Results: Among 765 patients visiting the emergency department, 8 (1.04%) (0.99-1.09, 95% Confidence Interval) patients were of poisoning. The most common poison used was organophosphates which was consumed by 2 (25%) patients and benzodiazepines by 2 (25%) patients.

Conclusions: The prevalence of poisoning among patients presenting to the Department of Emergency Medicine was similar when compared to other studies conducted in similar settings. Although agricultural poisons were commonly used, cases of drug poisoning seems to be on the rise nowadays.

Keywords: emergency department; poisoning; prevalence.