A Clinical Review of Acute Poisonings in Geriatric Patients from Rural Gangwon Province

Abstract

Objective: Recently, there has been an increase in acute poisonings in the elderly, which may be associated with attempts at suicide. The purpose of this study was to compare and analyze the clinical aspects and outcomes of acute poisonings in aged individuals with those of younger individuals. Methods: We performed a retrospective analysis of 207 patients seen in the Emergency Department (ED) with acute poisoning from January 2009 to December 2010. Two groups were created, > 65 years and < 65 years. The following were carefully compared: annual frequency, gender distribution, cause of poisoning, poisoning substance, motive for suicide, past psychiatric history, psychiatric interview, psychiatric diagnosis, disposition after ED visit, disposition after admission, poisoning severity score (PSS), duration of hospitalization, intensive care unit admission rate, and mortality. Results: The annual frequency was 0.1% in the > 65 group and 0.3% in the < 65 group, 0.4% in total. The cause of poisoning was accidental more often in those > 65 years than in those < 65 years. As motive for suicide, health problem was cited more often in the older group (p = 0.000). The older group had fewer interviews with psychiatrists and were more often diagnosed with depressive disorder (p = 0.010, p = 0.041, respectively). PSS and mortality were higher in the older group (p = 0.002, p = 0.010, respectively). Conclusions: A better understanding for the cause of poisonings and the poisonous substance used in the aged population is needed. And because of the more serious effects of acute poisonings to the elderly patient, they should readily receive regular comprehensive care including psychiatric care.