CLINICAL AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF ACUTE CARBAMATE AND ORGANOPHOSPHATE POISONING - A STUDY OF 70 ADULT PATIENTS IN NORTH JORDAN

Objective: To define the sociodemographic and clinical aspects of orga nic phosphate and carbamate poisoning. Design: The records of 70 adult s (33 males and 37 females) with carbamate or organophosphate intoxica tion admitted to a North Jordan Teaching Hospital over a five-year per iod were reviewed retrospectively. These patients represented 10% of a ll drug overdoses admitted over the same period. Results: The most cas es occurred in the 15-19 year-old age group and the female to male rat io was 1.1:1. Carbamate intoxication was more than twice as common as organophosphate intoxication. Two thirds (64%) of the patients intende d to commit suicide, 26% were due to accidental ingestion and the rema ining 10% were from occupational exposure. Muscarinic manifestations w ere the predominant clinical feature followed by central nervous syste m and then nicotinic manifestations. Low grade fever, not related to i nfection, was observed in 49% of the patients and respiratory difficul ty in 47%, of which 11% required assisted ventilation. Twenty-nine per cent of the patients presented with coma. Three patients died for a ho spital mortality of 4%. Conclusions: The widespread use of carbamates and organophosphates as household pesticides and the lack of adequate regulations controlling their sale and application has encouraged teen agers to prefer them as a modality of attempted suicide. This source o f poisoning has become a major health problem in some developing count ries.