Acute Poisonings at a Regional Referral Hospital in Western Kenya

The emergency department (ED) of the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) handles many cases of poisoning. However, there is scant information on the factors, agents, and outcomes of poisoning at the hospital. The aim of this work was to determine the factors, agents, and o...

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Main Authors: Mitchel Otieno Okumu, Minal Naran Patel, Foram Rajnkant Bhogayata, Irene Awuor Olweny, Francis Okumu Ochola, Joshua Orungo Onono
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2018-09-01
Series:Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/3/3/96
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author Mitchel Otieno Okumu
Minal Naran Patel
Foram Rajnkant Bhogayata
Irene Awuor Olweny
Francis Okumu Ochola
Joshua Orungo Onono
author_facet Mitchel Otieno Okumu
Minal Naran Patel
Foram Rajnkant Bhogayata
Irene Awuor Olweny
Francis Okumu Ochola
Joshua Orungo Onono
author_sort Mitchel Otieno Okumu
collection DOAJ
description The emergency department (ED) of the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) handles many cases of poisoning. However, there is scant information on the factors, agents, and outcomes of poisoning at the hospital. The aim of this work was to determine the factors, agents, and outcomes of poisoning at JOOTRH. Records of patients who presented to JOOTRH with symptoms of poisoning between January 2011 and December 2016 were retrieved. Data on age, gender, offending agents, time, and season of exposure were collected. Information on the route of exposure, motive, and clinical symptoms of poisoning was also included. Other information included the laboratory evaluation, first aid measures, period of hospitalization, and outcome of poisoning. Mean, standard deviation, frequencies and bar graphs were used to describe the demographic factors of the study population. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the strength of association between risk factors and outcome of poisoning among patients. The level of significance for inferential analysis was set at 5%. There were 385 cases of poisoning: 57.9% (223/385) were male, 31.9% (123/385) were 13–24 years of age, and 83.9% (323/385) of exposures were in Kisumu County. The peak time of exposure was 6:00–00:00, and 23.6% (91/385) presented 1–4 h after exposure. About 62.9% (242/385) of the cases were due to accidental poisoning. Snakebites and organophosphates (OPPs) contributed to 33.0% (127/385) and 22.1% (85/385) of all cases, respectively. About 62.1% (239/385) of exposures were oral, and 63.9% (246/385) of all cases occurred in the rainy season. Additionally, 49.2% (60/122) of intentional poisoning was due to family disputes, and 16.1% (10/62) of pre-hospital first aid involved the use of tourniquets and herbal medicine. About 28.6% (110/385) of the victims were subjected to laboratory evaluation and 83.9% (323/385) were hospitalized for between 1–5 days. Other results indicated that 80.0% (308/385) responded well to therapy, while 7.3% (28/385) died, 68% (19/28) of whom were male. Furthermore, 39.3% (11/28) of the deaths were related to OPPs. Our findings suggest that the earlier the victims of poisoning get to the hospital, the more likely they are to survive after treatment is initiated. Similarly, victims of poisoning due to parental negligence are more likely to survive after treatment compared to other causes of poisoning, including family disputes, love affairs, snakebites, and psychiatric disorders. The management of JOOTRH should consider allocating resources to support the development of poison management and control.
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spelling doaj.art-b88e85afe6454171b621e3cc9f0bbe122022-12-22T03:45:26ZengMDPI AGTropical Medicine and Infectious Disease2414-63662018-09-01339610.3390/tropicalmed3030096tropicalmed3030096Acute Poisonings at a Regional Referral Hospital in Western KenyaMitchel Otieno Okumu0Minal Naran Patel1Foram Rajnkant Bhogayata2Irene Awuor Olweny3Francis Okumu Ochola4Joshua Orungo Onono5Department of Pharmacy, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kisumu P.O. Box 849-40100, KenyaDepartment of Pharmacy, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kisumu P.O. Box 849-40100, KenyaDepartment of Pharmacy, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kisumu P.O. Box 849-40100, KenyaDepartment of Pharmacy, Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, Kisumu P.O. Box 849-40100, KenyaDepartment of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Medicine, Moi University, Eldoret P.O. Box 3900-30100, KenyaDepartment of Public Health, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Nairobi P.O. Box 29053-00625, KenyaThe emergency department (ED) of the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital (JOOTRH) handles many cases of poisoning. However, there is scant information on the factors, agents, and outcomes of poisoning at the hospital. The aim of this work was to determine the factors, agents, and outcomes of poisoning at JOOTRH. Records of patients who presented to JOOTRH with symptoms of poisoning between January 2011 and December 2016 were retrieved. Data on age, gender, offending agents, time, and season of exposure were collected. Information on the route of exposure, motive, and clinical symptoms of poisoning was also included. Other information included the laboratory evaluation, first aid measures, period of hospitalization, and outcome of poisoning. Mean, standard deviation, frequencies and bar graphs were used to describe the demographic factors of the study population. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the strength of association between risk factors and outcome of poisoning among patients. The level of significance for inferential analysis was set at 5%. There were 385 cases of poisoning: 57.9% (223/385) were male, 31.9% (123/385) were 13–24 years of age, and 83.9% (323/385) of exposures were in Kisumu County. The peak time of exposure was 6:00–00:00, and 23.6% (91/385) presented 1–4 h after exposure. About 62.9% (242/385) of the cases were due to accidental poisoning. Snakebites and organophosphates (OPPs) contributed to 33.0% (127/385) and 22.1% (85/385) of all cases, respectively. About 62.1% (239/385) of exposures were oral, and 63.9% (246/385) of all cases occurred in the rainy season. Additionally, 49.2% (60/122) of intentional poisoning was due to family disputes, and 16.1% (10/62) of pre-hospital first aid involved the use of tourniquets and herbal medicine. About 28.6% (110/385) of the victims were subjected to laboratory evaluation and 83.9% (323/385) were hospitalized for between 1–5 days. Other results indicated that 80.0% (308/385) responded well to therapy, while 7.3% (28/385) died, 68% (19/28) of whom were male. Furthermore, 39.3% (11/28) of the deaths were related to OPPs. Our findings suggest that the earlier the victims of poisoning get to the hospital, the more likely they are to survive after treatment is initiated. Similarly, victims of poisoning due to parental negligence are more likely to survive after treatment compared to other causes of poisoning, including family disputes, love affairs, snakebites, and psychiatric disorders. The management of JOOTRH should consider allocating resources to support the development of poison management and control.http://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/3/3/96acute poisoningWestern Kenyasnakebiteorganophosphates
spellingShingle Mitchel Otieno Okumu
Minal Naran Patel
Foram Rajnkant Bhogayata
Irene Awuor Olweny
Francis Okumu Ochola
Joshua Orungo Onono
Acute Poisonings at a Regional Referral Hospital in Western Kenya
Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease
acute poisoning
Western Kenya
snakebite
organophosphates
title Acute Poisonings at a Regional Referral Hospital in Western Kenya
title_full Acute Poisonings at a Regional Referral Hospital in Western Kenya
title_fullStr Acute Poisonings at a Regional Referral Hospital in Western Kenya
title_full_unstemmed Acute Poisonings at a Regional Referral Hospital in Western Kenya
title_short Acute Poisonings at a Regional Referral Hospital in Western Kenya
title_sort acute poisonings at a regional referral hospital in western kenya
topic acute poisoning
Western Kenya
snakebite
organophosphates
url http://www.mdpi.com/2414-6366/3/3/96
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