Trends in poisoning hospitalization and mortality in Taiwan, 1999-2008: a retrospective analysis

We analyzed poisoning-related data of mortality rates sourced from official Taiwanese vital statistics and of hospitalization from the National Health Insurance (NHI) Research Database. The data were age-adjusted to the year 2000 Standard Population to determine 10-year hospitalization and mortality rate trends, which we stratified according to gender, age, and poisoning agent. Poisson regression was used to investigate the trends.There were 20,260 deaths and 210,021 hospitalizations related to poisoning, with mortality and hospitalization rates of 8.21 per 100,000 and 86.30 per 100,000 population, respectively. Males exhibited higher rates of mortality and hospitalization as a result of poisoning, with the highest risk in those aged 65 years or older. Medicinal drugs followed by pesticides were the two most common agents of poisoning. There was an increasing trend of both poisoning-related mortality and hospitalization rates during the study period, with a greater increase occurring in the hospitalization rate than in the mortality rate.We found the males aged 65 years or older were at highest risk of poisoning, with medicinal drugs being the leading cause. Hospitalization rates increased more than mortality rates over the 10-year period. Appropriate poisoning prevention programs need to be developed. We should strengthen case management and improve access to health services to increase survival in cases of poisoning.Poisoning is a global public health concern. The World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that in 2000, unintentional poisoning resulted in 315,000 deaths worldwide. This represents 6% of all deaths from unintentional injuries, a proportion that is comparable with deaths from unintentional falls [1]. According to statistics from the American Association of Poison Control Centers in 2004, one poisoning case occurred every 13 seconds in the United States (US), with an incidence of 5.5-18.1 per 1,000 population. Altogether there was a yearly total of 200