DRUG OVERDOSAGE AND OTHER POISONING IN HONG-KONG - THE PRINCE-OF-WALES-HOSPITAL (SHATIN) EXPERIENCE

From 1988 to 1991, 732 patients (91.1% Chinese) were admitted to four general medical wards at the Prince of Wales Hospital in Hong Kong wit h acute poisoning, The patients were predominantly female (68.9%) and relatively young (86.3% below the age of 40), Further analysis of 655 patients indicates that the vast majority of patients (96%) were admit ted after self-poisoning with drugs or chemicals while 4% of cases wer e due to accidental poisoning. The main agents used by the former grou p included hypnotics/sedatives (33.1%), household products (15.7%), an d analgesics (13.7%), There were nine deaths (1.4%), When compared to other Western countries, two important variations in the pattern of ac ute poisoning were seen. A substantial proportion of drugs ingested by our patients were not precisely identified, 'Dettol', a household pro duct, was commonly used for self-poisoning in Hong Kong. Territory-wid e studies of longer duration are needed to provide the physicians in H ong Kong with much needed information on the incidence and ?he pattern of acute poisoning,