Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Winter;8(1):61-6.

Predisposing Factors for Methadone Poisoning in Children Hospitalized at Kerman Afzalipour Hospital, Iran

Ali Hosseininasab  1 , Aliasghar Vahidi  2 , Fatemeh Bagheri-Charouk  3
Affiliations

Predisposing Factors for Methadone Poisoning in Children Hospitalized at Kerman Afzalipour Hospital, Iran

Ali Hosseininasab et al. Addict Health. 2016 Winter.

Abstract

Background: Methadone is a synthetic opioid that has been used to relieve severe pain in addiction withdrawal. Unfortunately, due to non-standard supply and storage, the incidence of poisoning and deaths caused by this drug is increasing daily. The purpose of this study was to determine the underlying causes of methadone poisoning in children admitted to Kerman Afzalipour Hospital, Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran, during 2012.

Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 105 children diagnosed with methadone poisoning and admitted to the pediatric emergency ward at Kerman Afzalipour Hospital. The required information was recorded through interviews with parents, patient examination, and if necessary telephone calls with the parents. The data were analyzed using SPSS software.

Findings: Mean age of children was 3.9 ± 2.4 years and 59.0% of them were boys. Most parents had a high school diploma or a lower level of education. In all cases, a family member or relative, or at least one person in a party they attended was an addict. In most cases, methadone was fed to the child by mistake instead of water or other drugs. Parental substance abuse, employment status, and family income were significantly associated with methadone poisoning.

Conclusion: Training of methadone storage in individuals who need to use this drug can help to prevent accidental ingestion and poisoning of children.

Keywords: Children; Intoxication; Methadone.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Degenhardt L, Whiteford HA, Ferrari AJ, Baxter AJ, Charlson FJ, Hall WD, et al. Global burden of disease attributable to illicit drug use and dependence: findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2010. Lancet. 2013;382(9904):1564–74. - PubMed
    1. Esmaeili HR, Ziaddinni H, Nikravesh MR, Baneshi MR, Nakhaee N. Outcome evaluation of the opioid agonist maintenance treatment in Iran. Drug Alcohol Rev. 2014;33(2):186–93. - PubMed
    1. Taghaddosinejad F, Arefi M, Fayaz AF, Tanhaeivash R, Jabbari A. Determination of substance overdose in two Iranian centers: comparison between opioids and non-opioids. J Forensic Leg Med. 2013;20(3):155–7. - PubMed
    1. Sadeghian S, Boroumand MA, Sotoudeh-Anvari M, Rabbani S, Sheikhfathollahi M, Abbasi A. Effect of opium on glucose metabolism and lipid profiles in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes. Endokrynol Pol. 2009;60(4):258–62. - PubMed
    1. Haghighat M, Moravej H, Moatamedi M. Epidemiology of pediatric acute poisoning in southern Iran: A Hospital-Based Study. Bull Emerg Trauma. 2013;1(1):28–33. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources