J Korean Soc Clin Toxicol.  2019 Dec;17(2):94-101. 10.22537/jksct.2019.17.2.94.

Severity Predictors of Elderly Poisoning Patients Admitted to an Emergency Medical Center

• Park CY
• Cha KM
• So BH
• Jeong WJ

• KMID: 2470192
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.22537/jksct.2019.17.2.94

Abstract

PURPOSE
This study examined the clinical characteristics of severe elderly poisoning patients to determine the factors that can prevent them.
METHODS
Data were collected from patients over 65 years of age presenting to the emergency center with poisoning from 2013 to 2018. Their medical records were analyzed retrospectively, and patients with a poisoning severity score of three or more were defined as the severe poisoning group. The risk factors were evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis.
RESULTS
This study analyzed 292 patients, of whom 37 (12.7%) belonged to the severe poisoning group. The severe poisoning group showed a significantly higher association with pesticide poisoning and intentional suicide attempts. Loneliness and somatization were the cause of the suicidal ideas. No significant differences in age, sex, drinking, ingestion time, poisonous materials other than pesticides, and neuropsychological consultation were observed between the two groups.
CONCLUSION
The severe elderly poisoning patients were the result of intentional poisoning for suicide. Loneliness and somatization were the most influential causes of suicidal poisoning. Therefore, psychiatric screening and frequent medical treatment for elderly people are required to prevent severe poisoning in elderly patients.

Keyword

Elderly; Poisoning; Loneliness

MeSH Terms

Aged*
Drinking
Eating
Emergencies*
Humans
Loneliness
Mass Screening
Medical Records
Multivariate Analysis
Pesticides
Poisoning*
Retrospective Studies
Risk Factors
Suicide
Pesticides