PATTERN OF POISONING CASES
REPORTED TO THE NATIONAL
POISON CENTRE OF MALAYSIA:
THE SECOND FIVE-YEAR REPORT
Haslina H.¹, A.I. Fathelrahman¹, A.F. Ab Rahman 2, A.
Shalihin M.S. ¹, Razak L. ¹ , Rahmat A. ¹, Asdariah M. ¹
1 National
Poison Centre ; 2 School of Pharmaceutical Sciences,
Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 Minden, Penang, Malaysia
MPS-CPA Conference 2007, Kuala Lumpur
Introduction
 Acute poisoning is a significant health problem
worldwide.
 In the United States, more than 2 million poisoning
exposures were reported to the poison centre each
year
 In Malaysia, poisoning surveillance is undertaken by
the Ministry of Health & Ministry of Human Resource
– national data on poisoning pattern is scarce and
incomplete
 84.2% of medically treated poisonings in Malaysia
result in hospital admissions.
(Sirajuddin H et al, Med J Malaysia 2001)
The National Poison Centre of Malaysia
(since 1994)
 Located in the Universiti
Sains Malaysia (USM), main
campus in Penang, Malaysia.
 The only poison information
centre in the country –
provides toxicological
information to medical
personnel and the general
public
 WHO Collaborating Centre for
Drug Information
The National Poison Centre of Malaysia
(since 1994)
 Serves a population of approximately 25
million
 Established in 1994 based on a research by a
group of scientists from the School of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, USM.
 Official mandate from the Malaysian
government.
 Staff members comprises lecturers,
pharmacists, science officers, ICT and
multimedia personnel and other supporting
staffs (Total : 39)
24 hrs Service
Hrs
After Office
Hours
Including
Weekends &
Public
Holidays
Objectives
 To describe the pattern of poisoning inquiries
for the second 5-year period (2001-2005)
 To compare demographic characteristics of
poisoned cases in relation to substances
implicated and circumstances of poisoning.
Methodology
 All enquiries on poisoning received by the National
Poison Centre (NPC)
 Data were extracted from the NPC report forms and
analyzed using SPSS
 Descriptive analyses like frequencies and
percentages were used
 Chi-square statistic was used to test differences
between groups where ever applicable.
Results
Number of Poisoning Cases from
Year 2001 - 2005
 There were
records of 3057
poisoning
exposures
 Increasing trend
annually - average
of 611 inquiries per
year
 Increment was
significant after
2003
Distribution of Poisoning Cases by
Types of Poison from 2001-2005

Majority of cases
involves
agrochemicals

Followed by
pharmaceuticals,
household
products and
industrial
chemicals
Distribution of Types of Poison Exposed
in Year 2000
In 2000,
agrochemicals
constituted
the majority of
poisoning (34.8%)
exposures, followed
by pharmaceuticals
(26.6%)
and household
products (18.9%)
Distribution of Types of Poison Exposed
in Year 2005
 In 2005, the trend
is still similar
 However, the
percentage
differs –
agrochemicals
(47.2%),
pharmaceuticals
(25.35) and
household
products (14.9%)
Distribution of Poisoning Cases by Gender
and Types of Poison (2001 – 2005)
 More than half of
poisoning cases
involved males (57%)
 For agrochemicals,
males were more
exposed
 Pharmaceuticals are
more popular with the
females
 Household products,
exposure was almost
similar for both genders
Distribution of Poisons by Age Groups and
Types of Poison (2001 – 2005)
The majority of
those who were
involved in
agrochemicals
poisoning were
adults
Children were
more exposed to
pharmaceuticals
and household
products
Distribution of Poisoning by Race and
Types of Poison (2001 – 2005)
 The majority of
those who were
exposed to
agrochemicals &
household
products were
Indians
 The majority of
those who were
exposed to
pharmaceuticals
were Chinese &
Malays.
Distribution of Poisoning Cases by Gender
and Types of Incident (2001-2005)
 Both genders have
equal tendency for
intentional mode of
exposure
 In unintentional
exposure, males are
more predominant
compared to females
 Of all the cases,
more than half of
them were males
(57%)
Distribution of Poisoning Cases by Race and
Types of Incident (2001-2005)
 Indians were mostly
associated with
intentional mode of
exposure, followed by
the Chinese and other
races
 Malays were more
involved with
unintentional
poisoning
 Of all the cases, more
than half were
intentional (52.5%),
29.5% unintentional
and 17.4% unknown.
Distribution of Poisoning Cases by Types of
Incident and Age Groups
 Majority of
exposures involved
adults (70%)
 Among adults and
adolescents, the
main mode of
exposure is
intentional
 The most common
mode of exposure
among children is
accidental
Conclusion
 Increasing trend of reported exposures from
year 2001 to 2005
 Significant increase from 2003 onwards after
the 24-hour service was introduced
 Predominant cases of adults, males, chemical
toxicities and intentional mode.
 Among ethnic groups, there were variations
in the implicated agents and circumstances of
exposures.
References
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