Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40535710›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of general medicine2025

Variations in Poisoning Epidemiology and Management During the Initial COVID-19 Outbreak in a Taiwanese Emergency Department.

Lu-Chen Chen, Chih-Yang Mao, Chan-Wa Cheong, Wei-Chen Chen, Tzung-Hai Yen, Hsien-Yi Chen

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Article in International journal of general medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

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1citing papers in PubMed
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1 · What the graph read from it

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3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Epidemiological and clinical analysis ofFrontiers in toxicology · 2026
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4 · The record

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5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Lu-Chen ChenDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
Chih-Yang MaoDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
Chan-Wa CheongDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
Wei-Chen ChenDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
Tzung-Hai YenDepartment of Nephrology and Clinical Poison Center, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan.ORCID 0000-0002-0907-1505
Hsien-Yi ChenDepartment of Emergency Medicine, Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan (R.O.C.).

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the epidemiology of emergency department (ED) presentations, including those for self-harm and poisoning. Taiwan, with its strict border controls and quarantine measures, experienced a delayed COVID-19 outbreak in late April 2022. We evaluated epidemiological changes in ED poisoning cases and assessed whether their management was affected during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. Patients and Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of ED poisoning cases during the early phase of the COVID-19 outbreak (May 1-July 31, 2022) and the corresponding pre-COVID-19 periods (May 1-July 31, 2018, and 2019) at a tertiary medical center. Demographic data, poisoning characteristics, treatment efficiency, and clinical outcomes were compared between the two periods. Results: In total, 145 poisoning cases (48.3 per month) were identified during the pandemic, compared to 572 (95.3 per month) in the pre-pandemic period. Poisoned patients were significantly older (median age: 48 vs 40.5 years, p = 0.009) during the pandemic compared to the pre-pandemic periods, with a significant decline in pediatric poisoning cases. Although an increase in prescription drug exposures and a slight decrease in other poisoning categories was observed, these differences were not statistically significant. The proportion of severe poisoning cases (poisoning severity score 3 or 4) was significantly higher during the pandemic than in the pre-pandemic period (14.5% vs 7.9%, p = 0.021), and was accompanied by increased rates of intubation and intensive care unit admissions. ED stays were significantly prolonged during the pandemic, particularly among patients at risk of concurrent COVID-19 infection. Mortality rates remained comparable between the two periods. Conclusion: The epidemiology, disease severity, and management efficiency of poisoning cases were significantly affected during the early phase of the nationwide COVID-19 outbreak. Further large-scale studies are needed to validate these findings and inform future interventions.

Indexed as

COVID-19 pandemicintoxicationoverdoseSARS-CoV-2

Identifiers

PMID40535710
PMCPMC12176141

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.