Am. Saadeh et al., CLINICAL AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF ACUTE CARBAMATE AND ORGANOPHOSPHATE POISONING - A STUDY OF 70 ADULT PATIENTS IN NORTH JORDAN, Journal of toxicology. Clinical toxicology, 34(1), 1996, pp. 45-51
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.