TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2005//
TI  - Incidence of hospital admissions for deliberate self-poisoning with drugs in Norway
JO  - Tidsskrift for den Norske Laegeforening
A1  - Kopjar, B.
A1  - Dieserud, Gudrun
A1  - Wiik, J.
SP  - 1798
EP  - 1800
VL  - 125
IS  - 13
N2  - BACKGROUND:Due to lack of person-based national statistics, the exact incidence of deliberate self-poisoning in Norway is unknown. This study describes incidence of hospital discharges for deliberate self-poisoning with drugs based on data from Norwegian National Hospital Discharge Register. POPULATION AND METHODS:Cases of patients aged 15 years or older discharged with a diagnosis T4n or T50.9 "Intoxication with medical drugs and biological substances" from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2002 were selected. We have calculated age- and sex-specific national incidence rates and age- and sex-adjusted regional rates. RESULTS:Annualized incidence was 4307 cases (120 per 100 000 person-years). The incidence was higher among women (144 per 100 000 person-years) than men (94 per 100 000 person-years). Incidence was higher among younger than older people and it was the highest in women aged 20 - 24. In-hospital mortality was 5 per 1000 cases. There were statistically significant differences in incidence among Norwegian counties, with one county having the highest incidence, 50 % above the national average. Interpretation. Deliberate self-poisoning with drugs is a significant public health problem in Norway. Priority should be focused on high incidence among young people, particularly women. The causes of significant regional variations should be researched further.
LA  - 
SN  - 0029-2001
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/
ID  - ref1
ER  -