The purpose of this study was to identify the clinical aspects leading to overdose of multiple psychotropic drugs, in order to determine areas which need attention in the proper treatment of overdose patients.
Patients who were treated for overdose of psychotropic drugs at our emergency and critical center over two years were targeted. The clinical data was gathered from the medical records and database of all patients, including age, gender, vital signs, and laboratory data, drugs, and medical complications during hospital stay. In addition primary patient care at the emergency department was examined.
Among the 277 patients treated during this study period, 255 (74.0%) used two or more types of psychotropic drugs. Risk factors associated with endotracheal intubation and aspiration pneumonitis included the use of antipsychotics and/or barbiturates as types of overdose drugs. The mean number of days in the ICU was 3.4 days. Seventy-four patients (26.7%) stayed 4 days or more in the ICU of which 16 patients (5.8%) still had suicidal thoughts. A significantly higher incidence of extended ICU stay or endotracheal intubation and aspiration pneumonitis was observed in the group who overdosed on more than 50 or 60 tablets of psychotropic drugs, respectively.
Patients who ingested an overdose of more than 60 tablets of psychotropic drugs should be considered a high-risk group requiring intensive care with extended ICU stay. In case of including antipsychotics and/or barbiturates, the patient should be observed carefully due to a higher risk of medical complications.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
1
2%
Other
2
5%
Unknown
9
22%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 2. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 December 2016.
All research outputs
#16,436,707
of 26,367,306 outputs
Outputs from Journal of Toxicological Sciences
#370
of 578 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#218,128
of 403,734 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Journal of Toxicological Sciences
#15
of 34 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 26,367,306 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 36th percentile – i.e., 36% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 578 research outputs from this source. They receive a mean Attention Score of 4.9. This one is in the 35th percentile – i.e., 35% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 403,734 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 44th percentile – i.e., 44% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 34 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 55% of its contemporaries.
