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Table 2 Toxic agents in 2923 acute poisonings treated at Oslo Accident and Emergency Outpatient Clinic during one year

From: Patients presenting with acute poisoning to an outpatient emergency clinic: a one-year observational study in Oslo, Norway

 

All episodes

Episodes as main agenta

Episodes as co-agent

Episodes with suicidal intentionb

n (%)

Total n (%)

Males n (%)

Females n (%)

Total n (%)

Males n (%)

Females n (%)

Total n (%)

Males n (%)

Females n (%)

Ethanol

1684 (58)

1400 (48)

928 (48)

472 (47)**

284 (23)

174 (22)

110 (26)**

14 (5)

5 (6)

9 (5)

Heroin

542 (19)

490 (17)

391 (20)

99 (10)**

52 (4)

42 (5)

10 (2)**

13 (5)

10 (11)

3 (2)

Benzodiazepines

521 (18)

201 (7)

115 (6)

86 (9)*

320 (26)

231 (29)

89 (21)**

94 (34)

35 (39)

59 (32)*

Amphetamine

275 (9)

108 (4)

79 (4)

29 (3)**

167 (14)

131 (16)

36 (8)**

3 (1)

1 (1)

2 (1)

Fire smoke

192 (7)

191 (7)

113 (6)

78 (8)*

1 (<1)

0 (0)

1 (<1)

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

GHB

144 (5)

115 (4)

90 (5)

25 (2)**

29 (2)

21 (3)

8 (2)*

1 (<1)

1 (1)

0 (0)

Cannabis

143 (5)

30 (1)

16 (1)

14 (1)

113 (9)

79 (10)

34 (8)**

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

Paracetamol

70 (2)

48 (2)

10 (1)

38 (4)**

22 (2)

4 (1)

18 (4)*

42 (15)

8 (9)

34 (18)**

Methadone

54 (2)

34 (1)

23 (1)

11 (1)*

20 (2)

14 (2)

6 (1)

1 (<1)

0 (0)

1 (1)

Cocaine

53 (2)

16 (1)

12 (1)

4 (<1)*

37 (3)

26 (3)

11 (3)*

1 (<1)

1 (1)

0 (0)

Antipsychotics

46 (2)

30 (1)

4 (<1)

26 (3)**

16 (1)

3 (<1)

13 (3)*

27 (10)

4 (4)

23 (12)**

Antidepressives

39 (1)

24 (1)

6 (<1)

18 (2)*

15 (1)

4 (1)

11 (3)

23 (8)

5 (6)

18 (10)*

Buprenorphine

38 (1)

22 (1)

16 (1)

6 (1)*

16 (1)

12 (2)

4 (1)*

1 (<1)

0 (0)

1 (1)

NSAIDs

31 (1)

14 (<1)

3 (<1)

11 (1)*

17 (1)

7 (1)

10 (2)

14 (5)

3 (3)

11 (6)*

Ecstasy

18 (1)

8 (<1)

7 (<1)

1 (<1)

10 (1)

6 (1)

4 (1)

0 (0)

0 (0)

0 (0)

Other opioids

64 (2)

27 (1)

19 (1)

8 (1)*

37 (3)

16 (2)

21 (5)

7 (3)

5 (6)

2 (1)

Other substances of abuse

71 (2)

48 (2)

34 (2)

14 (1)*

23 (2)

15 (2)

8 (2)

1 (<1)

1 (1)

0 (0)

Other pharmaceuticals

89 (3)

52 (2)

17 (1)

35 (3)*

37 (3)

8 (1)

29 (7)*

31 (11)

10 (11)

21 (11)*

Otherc

74 (3)

65 (2)

36 (2)

29 (3)

9 (1)

4 (1)

5 (1)

3 (1)

1 (1)

2 (1)

Total

2923 (100)d

2923 (100)

1919 (100)

1004 (100)**

1226 (100)

797 (100)

429 (100)**

276 (100)

90 (100)

186 (100)**

  1. aThe main agent was defined as the one most toxic in the doses taken
  2. bMain agents only
  3. cIncluding seven patients initially diagnosed with acute poisoning, but during observation found to have other causes for their condition
  4. dPercentages add up to more than 100 as 904 poisonings had more than one agent
  5. P-values are given for comparisons between sexes of absolute numbers of episodes within group per agent
  6. *Significant difference between sexes, p < 0.05
  7. **Significant difference between sexes, p < 0.001
  8. GHB: Gamma-hydroxybutyrate
  9. NSAIDs: Non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs