J Korean Med Sci.  2016 Jul;31(7):1037-1041. 10.3346/jkms.2016.31.7.1037.

The Poisoning Information Database Covers a Large Proportion of Real Poisoning Cases in Korea

• Kim SJ
• Chung SP
• Gil HW
• Choi SC
• Kim H
• Kang C
• Kim HJ
• Park JS
• Lee KW
• Cho J
• Yoon JC
• Cho S
• Choe MS
• Hwang TS
• Hong DY
• Lim H
• Kim YW
• Kim SW
• Kang H
• Kim WJ

• KMID: 2373720
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2016.31.7.1037

Abstract

The poisoning information database (PIDB) provides clinical toxicological information on commonly encountered toxic substances in Korea. The aim of this study was to estimate the coverage rate of the PIDB by comparing the database with the distribution of toxic substances that real poisoning patients presented to 20 emergency departments. Development of the PIDB started in 2007, and the number of toxic substances increased annually from 50 to 470 substances in 2014. We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of patients with toxic exposure who visited 20 emergency departments in Korea from January to December 2013. Identified toxic substances were classified as prescription drug, agricultural chemical, household product, animal or plant, herbal drug, or other. We calculated the coverage rate of the PIDB for both the number of poisoning cases and the kinds of toxic substances. A total of 10,887 cases of intoxication among 8,145 patients was collected. The 470 substances registered in the PIDB covered 89.3% of 8,891 identified cases related to poisoning, while the same substances only covered 45.3% of the 671 kinds of identified toxic substances. According to category, 211 prescription drugs, 58 agricultural chemicals, 28 household products, and 32 animals or plants were not covered by the PIDB. This study suggested that the PIDB covered a large proportion of real poisoning cases in Korea. However, the database should be continuously extended to provide information for even rare toxic substances.

Keyword

Poisoning; Database; Information

MeSH Terms

Adolescent
Adult
Aged
Animals
Animals, Poisonous
Child
Child, Preschool
Databases, Factual
Drugs, Chinese Herbal/poisoning
Emergency Service, Hospital
Female
Humans
Infant
Male
Middle Aged
Pesticides/poisoning
Plants, Medicinal/poisoning
Poisoning/*epidemiology
Prescription Drugs/poisoning
Republic of Korea
Retrospective Studies
Young Adult
Drugs, Chinese Herbal
Pesticides
Prescription Drugs

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Coverage rate of the Poisoning Information Database according to numbers of exposures and toxic substances. DB, database. *8,891 of 10,887, †7,938 of 10,887, ‡7,938 of 8,891, §304 of 671, ∥953 of 10,887, ¶953 of 8,891, **367 of 671.

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