Context: Poisoning is an important category of avoidable deaths in Norway and an important public health issue. Close monitoring of any development in this field is essential for effective preventive measures.
Objective: To assess the pattern and trends of poisoning mortality in Norway from 2003 to 2012 based on official mortality data.
Materials and methods: This is a population-based registry study. We analyzed the underlying external cause of death data, in order to assess poisoning deaths (ICD-10) by accidents (X40-X49); intentional self-harm (suicide) (X60-X69); assault (homicide) (X85-X90); and poisoning of undetermined intent (Y10-Y19). We compared poisoning deaths to other injury mechanisms and used multiple injury cause data to identify substances involved in poisoning deaths. Poisson regression was applied to estimate the trend.
Results: Poisoning was the second leading mechanism of injury deaths in Norway from 2003 to 2012, causing between 424 and 496 deaths each year. The rates of poisoning deaths varied between 8 and 11 per 100,000 inhabitants, with a peak in 2004. About 3366 of the 4620 poisoning deaths in the decade were accidental. Opioids were the most common causative agents. Heroin caused 150 deaths in 2004. The numbers fell to 63 in 2012 but showed great yearly variations. Deaths by methadone increased from 24 in 2003 to 61 in 2012.
Discussion: Poisoning mortality rates declined from 2003 to 2012. Interpretation of the data, however, should be done with caution, and comparison with other countries may be biased due to differences in data production procedures. Evaluation of the effect of preventive measures to reduce mortality should be emphasized.
Conclusion: Poisonings remain a significant cause of mortality by injury in Norway. Emphasis should be placed on following the trends closely, especially regarding methadone deaths.
Keywords: Injury deaths; intentional poisoning; poisoning mortality; unintentional poisoning.