Abstract
Background: Poison is a substance capable of producing damage or dysfunction in the body by its chemical activity. Aim of the work: to determine and analyse the various factors influencing the pattern of poisoning in Holy Makkah, KSA during the period from Jan 1st 2009-to Jan 1st 2011. Subjects and methods: This is a cross-sectional retrospective study. The data were derived from the routinely registered data of poisoned cases admitted to different hospitals in Makkah, KSA. Results: The total number of studied poisoned cases in the study area was 330 cases: 200 adult cases and 130 pediatric cases. Manner of poisoning was mainly suicidal among adult (51%) and all pediatric cases were accidental 100%. The major cause of intentional poisoning was therapeutic drugs (45%) especially acetaminophen among adults. Male/Female ratio were 3: 5 among the whole number of cases. Most of poisoning adult cases was observed among age group between 21-35 years (40%) and most of poisoned pediatric cases were < 4 years (70%). The majority of cases adults and pediatrics originated from the urban areas (71%) and (84.6%) respectively.
Conclusion and Recommendation: The rate of acute poisoning in Makkah region is considered to be low. All of the pediatric cases and most of the adult cases are mainly accidental. When the standard management rules are followed the resulting mortality rate will be very low. To prevent poisoning, there should be continuous education of the public.