Paraquat Intoxication in Subjects Who Attempt Suicide: Why They Chose Paraquat.
10.3904/kjim.2009.24.3.247
- Author:
Su Jin SEOK
1
;
Hyo Wook GIL
;
Du Shin JEONG
;
Jong Oh YANG
;
Eun Young LEE
;
Sae Yong HONG
Author Information
1. Department of Internal Medicine, Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital, Cheonan, Korea. syhong@sch.ac.kr
- Publication Type:Original Article
- Keywords:
Paraquat;
Suicide, attempted
- MeSH:
Adult;
Female;
Herbicides/*poisoning;
Humans;
Male;
Middle Aged;
Paraquat/*poisoning;
*Suicide, Attempted/psychology
- From:The Korean Journal of Internal Medicine
2009;24(3):247-251
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
-
Abstract:
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Paraquat (PQ) has been used in suicide attempts; an estimated 2,000 toxic ingestions occur annually, with 60-70% mortality. We sought to determine why PQ is such a common agent for suicide attempts in Korea. METHODS: We analyzed 250 cases (143 males, 107 females) of attempted suicide by PQ ingestion from January to December 2007. The procurement of the PQ was divided into two categories: purchased and preexisting. RESULTS: Men were more likely to have purchased PQ than women (66% vs. 22%, p=0.042). Additionally, men were more likely to be unmarried (n=34, 23.9% vs. n=10, 9.3%) or divorced or separated (n=16, 11.3% vs. n=5, 4.6%) than the women (p<0.001). The group who intentionally selected PQ (38.4%) consisted of 96 cases (54 males, 42 females) and the group who did not intentionally select PQ (61.6%) included 154 cases (89 males, 65 females). The incidence of PQ purchase was higher in the intentional selection PQ group (46.9% vs. 18.2%, p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Only 38% of patients who attempted suicide with PQ intentionally selected PQ. Thus, greater control of PQ availability is needed, especially in patients at risk.
