Abstract
Organophosphate poisoning (OPP), especially intentional poisoning, remains a significant problem in resource-poor communities. This study describes the pattern of OPP at Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital (TPTH) from 2019 to 2023, and factors affecting poisoning outcome. It is a retrospective observational study using secondary data of 307 OPP cases from the critical care units at TPTH. Descriptive statistics, the Mann-Kendall Trend Test, and comparative analysis using the Chi-square test and regression analysis were performed to identify risk factors associated with poor outcomes on IBM-SPSS version 29. The significance threshold was set at p value ≤0.05.
The mean age± SD of the predominantly Black-African (99.7%), unemployed (81.7%) population was 30±12 years, with the Male: Female ratio 1.8:1. The rate of OPP admissions per year was 13.8%, being intentional in 78.8% cases, mean± SD length of hospital stay was 14± 11 days, 59.6% required life support, case fatality rate was 8.8%. There was a significant positive temporal trend (p= 0.014), and differences between intentional versus accidental poisoning, with age group (p= 0.000), gender (p= 0.030), a previous history of OPP (p= 0.002) and name of poison responsible for OPP (p= 0.002). The significant independent predictors of OPP outcome were age (OR = 0.967, 95% CI: 0.939–0.996, p = 0.026) and benzodiazepine therapy (OR = 2.797, 95% CI: 1.186–6.596, p = 0.019).Findings from the study confirm that OPP persists and is largely still an intentional poisoning. Strict regulation on, and continuous evaluation of organophosphate access remain an important public health intervention.