Epidemiological and Cost Analysis of Self-Poisoning Cases in Ankara, Turkey

BACKGROUND: Poisoning is a global public health problem. Self-poisoning has potentially serious consequences. Follow-up studies have found that 3-10% of self-harm patients eventually succeed. OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to investigate the epidemiological, clinical and economical aspects of deliberate self-poisoning patients admitted to Yenimahalle State Hospital Intensive Care Unit. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The study was carried out retrospectively in Ankara Yenimahalle State Hospital. It included Seventy-one patients over 16 years of age who were admitted to the hospital due to poisoning during 2012. Exposed poisons were classified into one of three categories; pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and alcohols. Cost account was based on the medical invoices at patient discharge. Data were compared using Student’s T test and chi-square test. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The female/male ratio was 2.55. The mean age of the 71 poisoned patients was 28.92 ± 11.51 years. Most of the poisoning agents were pharmaceuticals (68 cases). Among the pharmaceuticals, antidepressants were involved most often, followed by analgesics. There was no statistically significant difference between pharmaceutical agents in terms of hospital cost (P > 0.05). The mean length of hospital stay was 6.4 ± 4.3 days. There was a statistically significant difference between the lengths of stay of patients in terms of hospital cost (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The patient cost increased as the length of stay increased due to the policy of bundle pricing.