Social and economic variables related with Paraquat self-poisoning: an ecological study.
Buendía JA., Restrepo Chavarriaga GJ., Zuluaga AF.
BACKGROUND: Paraquat self-poisonings constitute a significant contributor to the global burden of suicide. Our aim was to evaluate the relationship between social and economic variables with the incidence of self-poisoning with Paraquat in the northeast of Colombia. METHODS: Records of 154 cases of self-poisoning with Paraquat and several socio-economic variables of six regions of northeast of Colombia were analyzed. RESULTS: Most of the cases were mestizos, farmworkers, between 20 and 29 years, with intentional exposure using the oral route. Multivariate analyses revealed significant associations among the incidence of self-poisoning with PQ with the ecological factors such as poverty greater than 30% (IRR 15.9 IC95% 5.56-44.72), land Gini index 10% (IRR 2.47 IC95% 1.60-3.80). CONCLUSION: There is a relationship between ecological factors and, as such, this study opens the way to further developments in the field.