Geospatial Analysis of Acute Poisonings at Mashhad, Iran in 2013

Background: Geospatial distribution analysis is a highly useful tool, especially in the field of health research and health economics. We aimed to study the geospatial distribution of poisoned patients and the risk factors in Mashhad, Iran. Methods: This was a retrospective cross-sectional study of patients treated at the Medical Toxicology Center, Imam Reza Hospital, Mashhad, Iran, which is the only referral center in northeast of Iran, in 2013. Negative binomial and Poisson approach via generalized linear mixed models were performed to investigate the association between socio-demographic characteristics with the number of reported cases of poisoning. Results: A total of 5064 poisoned patients (52% females) were included. Most of the poisoned patients were within the age group of 20-29 years old (41.4%). Pharmaceutical agents were the most common cause of poisonings (64.6%). The local test of spatial autocorrelation (Moran’s I) confirms that the poisoning had cluster pattern in Mashhad. Number of poisoning events were found to be associated with population density (RR= 1.00011; 95% CI 1.0001-1.00013), and the frequency of people with less than high school education (RR=1.49; 95% CI 1.32-1.68). Conclusion: The geospatial factors may have impact on the number of acute poisoning events in a city. Some parts of a city may exhibit spatial clustering in poisoning events. Once clusters are found, interventions can be focused to specific geographic locations and would be helpful for healthcare policymakers to focus on prevention programs.