Epidemiology of Organophosphate Poisoning in the Tshwane District of South Africa. (24th February 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Razwiedani, LL; Rautenbach, PGD
• Is Part Of: Environmental health insights. Volume 11(2017)
• Publication Date: 2017-02-24
• Subjects: Organophosphate poisoning -- surveillance -- gender -- suicide -- policy -- public health intervention; Environmental health -- Periodicals; Health risk assessment -- Periodicals; Environmental Health; Risk Assessment; Environmental health; Health risk assessment; Electronic journals; Periodicals; Fulltext; Internet Resources; Periodicals; Periodicals; 613.105
• DOI: 10.1177/1178630217694149
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1178-6302

Abstract

Background: Organophosphate poisoning is a major public health problem in South Africa. Individuals get exposed to organophosphate in both the domestic and industrial spheres. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted using retrospective, secondary data of organophosphate poisoning cases over a 3-year period, reported at the Tshwane District surveillance office. Data were analysed using Microsoft Excel, and Epi Info version 7 was used for descriptive statistics. Results: A total of 207 cases were reported with ages ranging from 10 months to 59 years. Most of the cases were men (58.9%). Intentional poisoning accounted for 51% of cases. Unintentional poisoning accounted for 21.7% of cases, and 26.5% of cases had unknown circumstances of poisoning. A significant number (50.2%) of intentional poisonings were suicide related. Nonsuicidal cases accounted for 47.4% of cases, and deliberate unlawful poisoning accounted for 2.4% of cases. The mortality rate for the whole group was 3.4%. Conclusions: Improvement in data collection on organophosphate poisoning is essential to properly measure the burden of the problem. More effective regulatory controls for pesticide use are needed in South Africa.