Characteristics of acute intoxications by chemical substances associated with suicidal intent, Colombia, 2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33610/28059611.155Keywords:
suicide, poisoning, pharmaceutical preparations, chemical compounds, public health surveillance, pesticidesAbstract
Introduction. Official sources of information on suicidal behavior in Colombia report that, between 2009 and 2017, 36,163 cases of intentionally self-inflicted injuries were admitted to health services, averaging 8,036 cases per year. The most frequent causes were related to poisonings. The most frequent causes were related to poisonings.
Methodology. Cross-sectional descriptive study of acute poisoning cases by chemical substances with suicidal intent reported to the National Public Health Surveillance System (Sivigila) in 2022. The database was cleaned to ensure data quality. Frequency analysis, measures of central tendency and incidence rate calculations were performed using Excel and OpenEpi software.
Results. In 2022, 24,711 cases of chemical poisoning associated with suicidal intent were reported. The incidence in women was 65.6 per 100,000 women, while the incidence in men was 29.3 per 100,000 men, a statistically significant difference. The mean age was 24.9 years. Medications were the most used chemical substances. A total of 115 deaths associated with suicide were reported, with a lethality of 0.5 per 100 cases, mainly in men.
Conclusions. The incidence of acute poisonings by intentional suicidal chemical substances in 2022 showed an increase compared to previous years. The majority of acute intentional suicidal chemical poisonings were due to drugs, followed by pesticides. Statistically significant differences were observed in the analysis by sex, with higher rates in females, mainly adolescents. Fatal outcomes were higher in men, although the difference was not statistically significant.
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