Background: Monitoring of acute poisoning is important for health authorities. There have been local studies and national studies in limited areas such as drug poisoning, but morbidity and mortality associated with acute poisoning has not been presented collectively at a national level. The aim of the study is to establish morbidity and mortality associated with acute poisoning in Norway.
Material and methods: The study material comprised data from the Norwegian Patient Register and the Norwegian Causes of Death Register on patients with acute poisoning from 1999 through 2004. Data from somatic hospitals include patients who were discharged after 5 hours.
Results: Almost 11,000 discharges with acute poisoning, coded as main or other condition (ICD-10 F and T codes), were recorded from somatic hospitals annually. The hospital mortality was 0.8 %. About 500 acute poisoning deaths occurred annually, 20 % within and 80 % of them outside hospitals.
Interpretation: The results show increased morbidity and stable mortality by acute poisoning in Norway, 1999-2004. Information in the Cause-of-Death and especially the Patient Register should be improved. More detailed information by type of drugs and substances and external causes are needed for monitoring and prevention.