Skip to main content

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of poisoning cases reviewed from all data collection sites, from January to December 2012 (n = 873)

From: Pattern of acute poisoning at two urban referral hospitals in Lusaka, Zambia

Patient Characteristics

Frequency

Proportion

Sex

  

 Male

450

51.6

 Female

423

48.5

Age

  

 0 to 12 years

300

36.3

 13 to 19 years

149

18.0

 20 to 30 years

253

30.6

 Over 30 years

125

15.1

Mean age (SD)

22 years (22 years)

Residence

  

 Urban

239

27.4

 Peri-urban

562

64.4

 Rural

60

6.9

Circumstance of poisoning

  

 Accidental

453

51.9

 Deliberate self-harm

336

38.5

 Recreational

3

0.3

Outcome of poisoning

  

 Recovery

847

97.0

 Injury

3

0.3

 Death

23

2.6

Route of poisoning

  

 Ingestion

793

90.8

 Inhalation

14

1.6

 Absorption (Dermal)

1

0.1

 Animal/Insect bites

60

6.9

Toxic agent involved

  

 Household chemicals

44

5.0

 Pharmaceutical

123

14.1

 Animal/insect venom

60

6.9

 Pesticides

187

21.4

 Food Poisoning

115

13.2

 Narcotics

3

0.3

 Traditional medicine

7

0.8

 Plants

19

2.2

 Unspecified agents

173

19.8

 Other agents

142

16.3

  1. • Marital status and occupation were not included in the table because the variables were found to be missing in the hospital records for most cases
  2. • Pharmaceuticals were predominantly oral but difficult to disaggregate
  3. • The circumstance of poisoning for the cases was based on details of information recorded in the case files
  4. • The category ‘other agents’ included chemicals that could not fit into the categories created prior to data collection. The specific agents have been tabulated in Table 5
Back to article page

BMC Emergency Medicine

ISSN: 1471-227X

Contact us