Publication:

Sociodemographic profile of patients and prescribing trend of drugs in organophosphate poisoning at tertiary care teaching hospital in Central India: a descriptive study

Background India is an agrarian country, where pesticides are most widely used in farming. Monsoon dependent agricultural practices are common in India. In present study socioeconomic class and prescribing pattern of commonly used drugs in organophosphate poisoning in indoor setting at tertiary care hospital is evaluated. The aim of the study was to evaluate prescribing trend of drugs and socioeconomic class of patients in organophosphate poisoning in monsoon season.

Methods Prospective observational study was conducted at Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) and Medicine Wards for 4 months at 540 bedded tertiary care teaching hospital.

Results Total 64 diagnosed cases were enrolled and analyzed in present study (n=64). Maximum number of cases (57.81%) were male followed by female (42.18%). Most of the cases (37.50%) were from the age group of 21-30 years. 49 (76.56%) patients were of primary intentional poisoning followed by 15 (23.43%) patients of accidental poisoning. Most common drugs prescribed were atropine, pralidoxime, cefotaxime and ranitidine. The average amount of atropine and pralidoxime used per patient/day were 37.89±63.63 mg and 10.07±26.87 gm respectively.

Conclusions Present study revealed that young male adults with low socioeconomic class from rural background were prone for intentional organophosphate poisoning in central India.