Epidemiology of intentional self poisoning

Intentional self-poisoning is one of the most common methods of suicide worldwide. A three year retrospective hospital record-based research conducted in a tertiary care hospital attached to a medical institution in Karnataka to record the incidence, age, gender, religion, type of poisoning, outcome and circumstance of poisoning. Of the total 1, 49, 454 patients admitted in the hospital for treatment during this three year research period, 592 patients were for to acute poisoning, among which 377 are of intentional self poisoning. Of these 57.5% were males and 42.5% females. The majority (36.6%) cases were from age group of 21-30 years. Majority (96.8%) of the intentional self poisoning victims were Hindus. The commonest poisons ingested were Oragnophosphorous insecticides. The mortality outcome was 60 out of 377 cases. Psychiatric illness was seen in 182 (48.3%) intentional self poisoning victims.