Self-harm by single- and multi-agent medication poisoning in a retrospective analysis of a Poison Control Center database from January 2018 to December 2022.

Autor: Milella MS; Poison Control Center Unit, Department of Emergency, Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I Hospital - Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology 'V. Erspamer', Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy., Petraccia L; Poison Control Center Unit, Department of Emergency, Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I Hospital - Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy., Pirelli F; Poison Control Center Unit, Department of Emergency, Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I Hospital - Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy., Foti G; Poison Control Center Unit, Department of Emergency, Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I Hospital - Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy., Sapio M; Poison Control Center Unit, Department of Emergency, Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I Hospital - Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy., Berardi R; Department of Emergency, Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I Hospital-Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy., Caprioli D; Department of Physiology and Pharmacology 'V. Erspamer', Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy., Pugliese F; Department of Emergency, Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I Hospital-Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy., Vivino G; Poison Control Center Unit, Department of Emergency, Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I Hospital - Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.; Department of Emergency, Anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine, Policlinico Umberto I Hospital-Sapienza, University of Rome, Rome, Italy.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety [Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf] 2024 Feb; Vol. 33 (2), pp. e5767.
DOI: 10.1002/pds.5767
Abstrakt: Purpose: Medication poisoning is the most common method of self-harm. Longitudinal studies incorporating pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic data are required to describe the phenomenon and to evaluate the long-term impact on mental health.
Methods: Calls to the Poison Control Center of Policlinico Umberto I Hospital - Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, were analyzed retrospectively for characteristics and clinical presentation of cases of interest from January 2018 to December 2022.
Results: A total of 756 cases of self-harm by medication poisonings were recorded in the study period. A reduction in rate of cases in 2020 was followed by a return to pre-pandemic levels by 2021. When separately analyzing single- and multi-agent cases, occurrence of cases involving just one medication increased since early 2021, with a peak in 2022 (7.8% of total calls, 95% CI 6.2-9.5, from 4.9%, 95% CI 4.1-5.8 in 2018). This increase in the rate of cases, mostly of none or mild severity, was driven by youth aged 12-21, in which the relative proportion of single- versus multi-agent cases showed an increasing trend since 2020 (from 42.6% in 2018 to 78.6% in 2022). Acetaminophen was the medication most frequently involved and benzodiazepines the largest class. A psychiatric background was increasingly seen in 2022, especially in age group 12-21.
Conclusion: Single-agent medication self-harm may be an increasingly prevailing phenomenon. Young adolescents with a psychiatric background might be most vulnerable to this behavior in the COVID-19 pandemic aftermath. Healthcare professionals should expect favorable clinical outcome and improve both counseling and psychotherapy supervision in individuals at risk.
(© 2024 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)
Databáze: MEDLINE