Epidemiological survey and determine the causes of hospitalized poisonings in women of reproductive age, Gorgan, Iran

Poisoning is one of the most threatening health problems. The women of reproductive ages were the most vulnerable groups at risk of poisoning in the society. The aim of this study was to epidemiological survey and to determine the causes of hospitalized poisonings in women of reproductive age in Gorgan, Iran.
This cross-sectional study was carried out on all women of reproductive age (aged between 15 and 49) who were hospitalized in the hospital of 5 Azar due to poisoning from March 2008 to March 2015. Data were retrospectively collected from patients’ files and analyzed using SPSS 16 software and Chi-squared test.
A total of 353 poisoning cases among women, 303 cases (85.8%) were in reproductive age and the majority of them were in the age range of 20-24 years (n=94, 31%). Also, 46.9% of the patients were single and 74.6% of them were living in urban areas. The majority of poisonings were caused by drugs (85.5%), followed by aluminum phosphide (4.6%). The most common agents involved in drug poisoning were sedatives-hypnotics drugs (42.9%), especially BZDs (37.2%), followed by antidepressants (16.6%). 88.8% of poisonings were intentional type (suicide). Overall, 7 patients (2.3%) died, of which 5(71.4%) were due to aluminum phosphide. Moreover, there were significant relation between rate of poisoning with demographic variables such as age, marital status, education, occupation, residence and also kind and agent of poisoning (p Intentional poisoning by pharmaceutical agents especially benzodiazepines was identified as the main cause of poisoning among women of reproductive age in Gorgan. Finally, by attention to the role of women in the family and community and effect of them on the health of other members of the family, preventive measures should include life skills training, counseling services and restricting the reach of drugs.