PATTERN OF PHARMACEUTICAL DRUG POISONING IN SOUTH INDIAN TERTIARY CARE HOSPITALS

Abstract

Objective was to study the pattern of pharmaceutical drug poisoning (PDP) in four South Indian tertiary care hospitals. Prospective, observational study included patients admitted to emergency departments of four tertiary care hospitals of South India. The data was collected from the patient case records into a well-designed data collection form, in accordance with the study protocol of inclusion and exclusion criteria. Out of 708 PDP patients we found that the male patients dominated the female patients, with highest number between the age group between 1 to 20 years and 21 to 40 years. We found that most of them had education between 7^th to 10^th std, and also the data reveled that, unmarried group were reported more than other groups. Intentional consumption was the most common reason for PDP of which non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were the most reported drug poisoning followed by antiepileptic drugs. Awareness and counseling can bring in drastic reduction in the number of suicidal attempts due to pharmaceutical drugs.