Citation

Davies JOJ, Eddleston M, Buckley NA. QJM 2008; 101(5): 371-379.

Affiliation

South Asian Clinical Toxicology Research Collaboration, Centre for Tropical Medicine, Nuffield Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Oxford, England, UK, Ox-Col Collaboration, Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2008, Oxford University Press)

DOI

10.1093/qjmed/hcn014

PMID

18319295

PMCID

PMC2493062

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Organophosphorus (OP) pesticide poisoning kills around 200 000 people each year, principally due to self-poisoning in the Asia-Pacific region. AIM: We wished to assess whether patients at high risk of death could be identified accurately using clinical parameters soon after hospital admission. DESIGN: We evaluated the usefulness of the International Program on Chemical Safety Poison Severity Score (IPCS PSS) and the Glasgow Coma Score (GCS) prospectively for predicting death in patients poisoned by OP pesticides. METHODS: Data were collected as part of a multicenter cohort study in Sri Lanka. Study doctors saw all patients on admission, collecting data on pulse, blood pressure, pupil size, need for intubation and GCS. RESULTS: Of the patients, 1365 with a history of acute OP poisoning were included. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were calculated for the IPCS PSS and GCS on admission. The IPCS PSS and GCS had similar ROC area under the curves (AUC) and best cut points as determined by Youden's index (AUC/sensitivity/specificity 0.81/0.78/0.79 for IPCS PSS >/= grade 2 and 0.84/0.79/0.79 for GCS

Language: en