Acute poisoning at two hospitals in Kampala-Uganda.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to characterize acute poisoning cases admitted to two hospitals in Kampala, Uganda. STUDY
DESIGN: All cases admitted to the two hospitals, from January 2005 to June 2005, were evaluated retrospectively. Data obtained from the hospital medical records included the following: demographic characteristics, toxic agents, length of stay, circumstances of poisoning, and mortality information on the victims.
RESULTS: Of the total 276 patients admitted for treatment, whose mean age was 26.6 (+/-12.2) years, 71.0 % were males. The age category of 20-29 years old most affected (42.8%), while only 5.1% of those affected were younger than 13 years old. Toxic agents involved in the incidents were, in descending order, agrochemicals (42.4%), household chemicals (22.1%), carbon monoxide (20.0%), snakebites (14.1%), and food poisoning (1.4%). There was a statistically significant difference with regard to gender, females were more victims of poisoning by snake bites (25.0% vs. 9.7%) and food poisoning (2.5% vs. 1.0%), while males were more affected by carbon monoxide (25.5% vs. 6.3%). Moreover, 61.2% patients spent less than 2 days in hospital, the mean length of stay was 2.1 days, with a range of 1 to 26 days. The overall case fatality rate was 1.4%; of those who died, 75% were males, and the toxic agents responsible for the death were alcohol (50%), carbon monoxide (25%), and organophosphate (25%).
CONCLUSION: Acute poisoning involved more men, who spent more than 2 days being hospitalized, and resulted in a case fatality rate of 1.4% due to alcohol, carbon monoxide, and organophosphates. These findings suggest that further studies are warranted in order to understand the motivation(s) for this emerging problem, and plan appropriate interventions.