You are seeing this message because your Web browser does not support basic Web standards. Find out more about why this message is appearing and what you can do to make your experience on this site better.


ABOUT JAMA
Advanced Search

Welcome   | My Account | E-mail Alerts | Access Rights | Sign In


  Vol. 251 No. 15, April 20, 1984 TABLE OF CONTENTS
  JAMA
  •  Online Features
  ARTICLE
 This Article
 •Send to a friend
 • Save in My Folder
 •Save to citation manager
 •Permissions
 Citing Articles
 •Contact me when this article is cited
 Related Content
 •Similar articles in JAMA

Life-threatening drug overdose. Precipitants and prognosis

T. A. Stern, A. G. Mulley and G. E. Thibault

During a four-year period, 255 persons were admitted to a medical intensive care unit 283 times (5% of all admissions) for treatment of drug overdose. Because of the high personal and social costs associated with overdose and the high rate of repeated overdose admissions, we prospectively studied 104 patients who had taken an overdose admitted during a 20-month period to define better the precipitants of overdose and the prognosis after intensive care unit admission for overdose. Of 103 hospital survivors, 88 consented to and could be reached for follow-up (mean duration, ten months). During that time, 8% died (5% by overdose) and 42% had been readmitted for another nonfatal overdose or for psychiatric illness. Prior psychiatric treatment was associated with subsequent readmission; 61% with a history of suicide attempt were readmitted during the follow-up period. Demographic characteristics, psychiatric evaluation, and medical history were not associated with subsequent hospitalization or death from overdose.





HOME | CURRENT ISSUE | PAST ISSUES | TOPIC COLLECTIONS | CME | SUBMIT | SUBSCRIBE | HELP
CONDITIONS OF USE | PRIVACY POLICY | CONTACT US | SITE MAP
 
© 1984 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.