EPIDEMIOLOGY OF FATAL ALCOHOL POISONING IN TEHRAN DURING APRIL 2018-2019

Background and Aim : Prevalence of alcohol use in Iran has been increasing in recent years. With legal ban of alcohol trade, most distributed alcoholic beverages are handmade. Distribution of such unstandardized drinks has led to increasing prevalence of alcohol poisoning in the country. Alcohol poisoning cases are not routinely registered. In this study we investigated all fatal alcohol poisoning cases in Tehran according to objective records of Legal Medicine Organization. Results of this study will provide valuable information for policy makers.Methods : This is a cross-sectional study conducted at Central Legal Medicine Organization of Tehran. Decedents suspicious to alcohol/drug use or unnatural cause of death are referred to Legal Medicine Organization for autopsy and determination of their cause of death. During autopsy, vitreous, urine and visceral samples are obtained and tested for alcohol and routinely abused drugs by laboratory methods. In this study we investigated all records of decedents that their cause of death was alcohol toxicity (alone or in combination with other drugs) during April 2018- April 2019. Cases positive for alcohol but with other death causes than alcohol poisoning were not included. Demographic information (Age, sex, marital status, education, occupation) and type of used alcohol among victims were extracted from records and analyzed by Excel 2013.Results : Of 68 included cases, 64 (94.1%) were male. Mean (Standard Deviation) age of study population was 36.6 (12.2) years, ranging from 16 to 56. Among study population, 36 (56%) were self-employed, 14 (22%) were college/university students, 10 (16%) were unemployed and 4 (6%) were employees. Two of 4 female decedents were housewives, 1 was student and 1 was self-employed. Marital status of victims was as following: 28 (42%) married, 30 (43%) single and 10 (15%) divorced. Educational attainment of 26 (38.2%) cases was college/ university. In 60 (88.2%) cases alcohol was used alone but in 8 (11.8%), other drugs were also used besides alcohol. In 85% of case a combination of methanol and ethanol was detected in vitreous samples. Pure methanol and pure ethanol were detected in 11% and 4% of cases, respectively. Conclusion : This study revealed considerable use of unstandardized alcohol in our victims that most of them were young and students. These findings help to set effective preventive programs.

Keywords:

Alcohol , Epidemiology , Ethanol , Methanol , Mortality