Prospective Evaluation of Suicide Cases Presented to National Environmental and Clinical Toxicology Center, Egypt

Abstract

Abla Abd El-rahman Ali, Mona Mohamed Abd El-hamid Eldesoky, Iman Fawzy Gaballa and Mokhtar Fathy Abd Elsatar

Suicide is a tragic and potentially preventable public health problem. It is the 3rd leading cause of death among young adults worldwide. It was reported that drug overdose was the most common means of suicide in Egypt. Pesticides are a common suicidal agent. Aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of suicidal cases admitted to National Environmental and Clinical Toxicology Research Centre (NECTR) during six months period from (April to September 2017) regarding the most common poison used and different socio-demographic factors in attempt to identify high risk individuals in our community. This prospective study included 162 suicidal cases who were admitted to the National Environmental and Clinical Toxicological Research Center. The results of this study showed that the most frequent age group was those between 18-40 years (60.5%) followed by those below 18 years (33.3%) with female dominance (79%). The most frequently ingested agents were pesticides (34%) followed by miscellaneous agents (30.9%) then psychoactive agents (11.1%). The most common cause of attempting suicide was social problems (69.1%) followed by psychological causes (11.7%). The mortality rate was (4.3%)

PDF