A retrospective descriptive study of the characteristics of deliberate self-poisoning patients with single or repeat presentations to an Australian emergency medicine network in a one year period

Table 3 Comparison of drugs ingested by class for single and repeat presenters

Drug Class	Most common specific agents in class	SPP^€presentations (N = 752)	RPP^€presentations (N = 315)	OR^¥	95% CI^¥
Benzodiazepines		296 (39.4)	135 (42.9)	1.12	0.85-1.46
	Diazepam	146 (19.4)	90 (28.6)	1.66	1.23-2.25^*
	Temazepam	74 (9.8)	24 (7.6)	0.76	0.47-1.22
	Alprazolam	64 (8.5)	21 (6.7)	0.76	0.46-1.28
Alcohol (Beverage)		245 (32.5)	95 (30.0)	0.89	0.67-1.19
Paracetamol		179 (23.8)	96 (30.5)	1.37	1.03-1.84^*
Antidepressants		217 (28.9)	65 (20.6)	0.64	0.47-0.88^*
SSRI^£		89 (11.8)	20 (6.3)	0.51	0.31-0.84^*
SSRI^£	Escitalopram/Sertraline	51 (6.8)	15 (4.8)	0.69	0.38-1.24
SNRI	Venlafaxine/Desvenlafaxine/Duloxetine^§	47 (6.3)	19 (6.0)	0.96	0.56-1.67
TCA		39 (5.2)	7 (2.2)	NT
Antipsychotics		99 (13.2)	55 (17.5)	1.40	0.97-2.00
	Quetiapine	60 (8.0)	39 (12.4)	1.63	1.06-2.50^*
	Olanzapine	11 (1.5)	7 (2.2)	NT
NSAIDs		81 (10.8)	30 (9.5)	0.87	0.56-1.36
Other drugs		266 (35.4)	100 (31.8)	0.85	0.64-1.12
	Opioids	61 (8.1)	11 (3.5)	0.41	0.21-0.79^*
	Zolpidem/Zopiclone	32 (4.3)	13 (4.1)	0.97	0.50-1.87

Data presented as number (%). ^¥Univariate logistic regression test of SPP versus RPP, ^€Data missing: three for single presenters and 6 for repeat presenters, information either not in scanned medical records or described as unknown, ^*Significant difference, ^£Data presented for all SSRI and the three most common ingested, ^§Only these SNRI’s ingested in DSP. SPP: Single poisoning presentation, RPP: Repeat poisoning presentation, OR: Odds ratio, CI: Confidence interval, SSRI: Serotonin-specific reuptake inhibitor, SNRI: Serotonin–norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor, TCA: Tricyclic antidepressants, NSAID: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory, NT: Not tested. Note: frequencies add up to greater than 100% as DSP may be associated with more than one toxin.

ISSN: 1471-227X