An Epidemiological Study of Aluminum Phosphide Poisoning in Patients Admitted in a Specialized Poisoning Referral Center in Northern Iran

Background and objectives : In recent decades, aluminum phosphide pills are used for suicide attempts in Tehran and other parts of the country. Aluminum phosphide is a solid inorganic phosphide that because of its involvement in entire the body organs right after the use, it causes different clinical signs and symptoms. In this research, we studied the epidemiological factors of poisoned patients with aluminum phosphide who were admitted in Tehran Baharloo hospital over the two years. Material and Methods : In this retrospective case series study, we surveyed the poisoned patients with aluminum phosphide who were admitted in Tehran Baharloo hospital. After recording data in pre-designed data collection forms, the collected data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results : Seventy one cases of poisoned patients with aluminum phosphide with an average age of 26.18 ± 11.29 years were included in this study. The average number of ingested pills was 1.27±0.73. Sixty eight (95.8%) patients had a suicidal and deliberate attempt. In this study, the fatality rate of fresh aluminum phosphide tablets was 51.6%. Conclusion : Based on the fatality rate of aluminum phosphide pills, preventive health care actions, increasing the awareness and training of health and medical management personnel at medical universities seem necessary to reduce the tendency and access to aluminum phosphides.