Characteristics and outcomes and of patients with drug overdose requiring Intensive Care Unit admission

The present study indicated that during 2010 to 2013, 8.1% patients admitted to the ICU of Frankston Hospital, were patients with drug overdose. Therefore, 1/8th of patients admitted in the ICU were of drug overdose. This is quite high, with respect to patients admitted, in the ICU with other diseases. Out of such patients, 7.8% patients had multiple admissions during the three-year period. Hence, it reflected that such patients might have been suffering from chronic physical or psychiatric ailments. The prevalence of ICU admissions varied with respect to gender. 56.57% patients admitted with drug overdose were females and 41.7% were males. Therefore, the incidences of drug overdose in females were 36% higher than males. This reflects that females are prone and susceptible to drug overdose. Such phenomenon is not uncommon because the prevalence of depression is 2:1 in Females: Males. Hence, it can be speculated that due to depressive disorders the risk of drug overdose increases. However, with respect to mean age of admission with overdose, the figures nearly matched (39.3 years for males versus 40.6 years for females) and there was no statistically significant difference between these two figures (p> 0.05). Therefore, it may be speculated that males might have better-coping strategies to combat stress and depression compared to females. On the other hand, it might be so possible that the extent and intensity of stress and depression were higher in females. That is why; t…