Vol 13, Issue 8, 2020 Online - 2455-3891 Print - 0974-2441 DELIBERATE SELF-POISONING IN SOUTH ODISHA: STUDY OF ITS CLINICAL PROFILE AND OUTCOME SACHIDANANDA NAYAK, BIJAYA KUMAR BEHERA*, KESHABA CHANDRA BUDULA, SRITAM ACHARYA Department of General Medicine, Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur, Odisha, India. Email: drbkbehera@gmail.com Received: 17 March 2020, Revised and Accepted: 08 June 2020 ABSTRACT Objective: Deliberate self-poisoning is a serious global issue that contributes to significant morbidity and mortality all over the world. The present study was conducted with an objective to identify the common agents used for self-poisoning prevalent in South Odisha and to determine the common clinical features and outcome of such cases. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted on 200 patients with deliberate self-poisoning belonging to the age group of 15–70 years over a period of 2 years from August 2017 to September 2019 in Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur, Odisha, India. All the above-mentioned patients admitted to the hospital, were treated with specific antidotes according to the poison ingested. Results were analyzed using appropriate standard statistical methods such as mean, standard deviation, and percentage. Results: Out of 200 patients, majority were female (65%, n=130) and 35% (n=70) were male; mean age was 38.9 (±16.8) years. Organophosphates, aluminum phosphide, glyphosate, organochlorines, and carbamates were the most common pesticides used as poisoning agents (74.5%, n=149) followed by plant poisons (7%, n=14) which included yellow oleander seed. Overall mortality in our study was 12.5%. Conclusion: Pesticides and plant poisons were the common agents used in our study for deliberate self-poisoning. Young persons, illiterates, and housewives were commonly involved in suicide attempts. Organophosphate caused majority of deaths. Keywords: Deliberate self-poisoning, Pesticides, Organophosphates, Plant poisons INTRODUCTION Deliberate self-poisoning and suicides are serious global health issue in many developing and underdeveloped countries including India, where the toxicity of available poisons and sparse medical facilities contributes to significant morbidity and mortality. It is also observed that suicide attempts by females are 3 times more common than males [1]. In India, social and economic reasons are the major cause of suicidal death in men while emotional and personal problems are the causes in women [2]. Profile of patients and their choice of agents depend on the local availability of the substances and the socioeconomic and cultural backgrounds. It is seen to vary in different regions [3]. Acute pesticide poisoning is a major issue in developing countries of the Asia-Pacific region and organophosphates are considered the most important cause of death from acute poisoning worldwide. In developed countries, however, the incidence of severe pesticide poisoning is relatively very low where drugs play the predominant role. According to data available from National Poison Information Centre, India, suicidal poisoning with pesticides is the most common modality of poisoning since it is cheap, highly toxic, and capable of being taken along with food or drink and above all easily available [4]. The WHO estimates that deliberate ingestion of pesticides causes 370,000 deaths each year which is one-fifth of the total world’s suicidal deaths. The number of these deaths can be reduced by limiting the availability of and access to, highly toxic pesticides. Aims and objectives The aim of the present study was to determine the clinical profile and outcome of deliberate self-poisoning in South Odisha. The objectives were: • To study the demographic details of the patients of poisoning, • To identify the common agents used for poisoning and, • To determine the common clinical features, complications, and outcomes of the patients treated. METHODS We designed a cross-sectional observational study which was conducted in the Department of General Medicine, Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapati Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur, Odisha, India, over a period of 2 years from August 2017 to September 2019. A total number of 200 patients of deliberate self-poisoning, belonging to the age group of 15–70 years of both the genders were taken from the Emergency Department, General Medicine Wards and Medical intensive care unit (ICU). The study was conducted after the study protocol was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee. Informed consent was obtained either from the patients or from their relatives. The types of poison were confirmed from patient’s detailed history, signs and symptoms, reliable information, either from the patients or from his/her relatives, and the container of the poison produced. Data regarding demographic profiles including age, sex, educational level, socioeconomic status, and premorbid conditions were recorded from them. © 2020 The Authors. Published by Innovare Academic Sciences Pvt Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons. org/licenses/by/4. 0/) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22159/ajpcr.2020.v13i8.38358 Research Article