TY  - JOUR
PY  - 1994//
TI  - Hospital admissions due to acute poisoning in the New Territories, Hong Kong
JO  - Southeast Asian journal of tropical medicine and public health
A1  - Chan, T. Y.
A1  - Critchley, J. A.
SP  - 579
EP  - 582
VL  - 25
IS  - 3
N2  - To study the pattern of acute poisoning in the New Territories East of Hong Kong, 291 adult cases admitted to the Prince of Wales Hospital in 1989 were reviewed. The female-to-male ratio was 2.3 to 1 and the majority of patients (83%) were below the age of 40. The main poisons involved were hypnotics and sedatives (44.3%), household products (14.8%) and analgesics (10%). The poisoning was intentional in the majority of cases (98.6%). A specific antidote was necessary in 5.2% of cases. Four patients died after admission giving an overall mortality of 1.4%. When compared to the findings from other western countries, important variations in the pattern of acute poisoning were seen in Hong Kong. Firstly, a substantial proportion of drugs ingested were not dispensed labeled although their nature could usually be determined. Secondly, "Dettol", a household antiseptic, was commonly used in self-poisoning episodes. The lack of drug identification labeling on dispensed medicines outside hospitals is of great concern to all physicians in Hong Kong.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0125-1562
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -