Alharbi Abdullah A, Muaddi Mohammed A, Binhotan Meshary S, Alqassim Ahmad Y, Alsultan Ali K, Arafat Mohammed S, Aldhabib Abdulrahman, Alaska Yasser A, Alwahbi Eid B, Almutairi Meshari A, Alharthi Mobarak, Khan M Mahmud, Alabdulaali Mohammed, Aljerian Nawfal A
Family and Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Jazan University, Jazan City, 45142, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Emergency Medical Services Department, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
J Epidemiol Glob Health. 2025 Apr 16;15(1):60. doi: 10.1007/s44197-025-00404-y.
Poisoning represents a major global public health burden with significant regional variations in epidemiology and management. The Saudi Toxicology Consultation Service (TCS) provides nationwide remote consultation through a public hotline, enabling systematic data collection and analysis of poisoning patterns. However, contemporary data on poisoning epidemiology and telehealth services in Saudi Arabia is lacking.
This study aimed to analyze national TCS data originating from public calls, in order to systematically characterize community-based poisoning epidemiology and clinical profiles. Specific goals included determining sociodemographic, seasonal, and geographic distributions, identifying common agent categories and their associated clinical profiles, and analyzing management decisions across different toxic exposure categories.
We conducted a retrospective analysis of all public calls to the national TCS hotline between January 1 and December 31, 2023. Data collected included poisoning cases demographics, geographic location, agent category, symptoms, and management decisions. Descriptive statistics characterized the study population. Chi-square tests assessed associations between variables with significance set at p < 0.001.
Among 39,142 consultations analyzed, children aged 1-<3 years had the highest consultation rate (157.59 per 10,000). Females showed higher utilization than males (15.41 vs. 10.10 per 10,000). The Central region demonstrated the highest consultation rate (19.13 per 10,000). Medications were the most common agent category (49.37%), followed by household products (26.32%) and health supplements (22.99%). Most cases were asymptomatic (97.19%) and managed through home observation (74.53%). However, bites/stings and substance abuse cases more frequently required hospital referrals (70.56% and 61.97% respectively) despite being predominantly asymptomatic.
This first comprehensive analysis of the epidemiology of national toxicology consultations data reveals children 1-<3 years old as the highest risk group for poisonings in Saudi Arabia, with medications as the predominant exposure. The large proportion of cases safely managed by the TCS demonstrates the feasibility and healthcare value of expanding remote toxicology services to improve efficiency and reduce costs. Data-driven insights could inform preventative initiatives, clinical guidance development, and strategic policies to curb poisoning incidence by targeting highest-risk demographics.
中毒是一项重大的全球公共卫生负担，在流行病学和管理方面存在显著的地区差异。沙特毒理学咨询服务（TCS）通过公共热线提供全国范围的远程咨询，从而能够系统地收集和分析中毒模式。然而，沙特阿拉伯缺乏关于中毒流行病学和远程医疗服务的当代数据。
本研究旨在分析来自公众来电的全国TCS数据，以便系统地描述基于社区的中毒流行病学和临床概况。具体目标包括确定社会人口统计学、季节和地理分布，识别常见的中毒剂类别及其相关的临床概况，以及分析不同中毒暴露类别的管理决策。
我们对2023年1月1日至12月31日期间拨打全国TCS热线的所有公众来电进行了回顾性分析。收集的数据包括中毒病例的人口统计学信息、地理位置、中毒剂类别、症状和管理决策。描述性统计用于描述研究人群。卡方检验评估变量之间的关联，显著性设定为p < 0.001。
在分析的39142次咨询中，1至<3岁的儿童咨询率最高（每10000人中有157.59次）。女性的使用率高于男性（每10000人中有15.41次 vs. 10.10次）。中部地区的咨询率最高（每10000人中有19.13次）。药物是最常见的中毒剂类别（49.37%），其次是家用产品（26.32%）和健康补充剂（22.99%）。大多数病例无症状（97.19%），并通过家庭观察进行管理（74.53%）。然而，叮咬/蜇伤和药物滥用病例尽管大多无症状，但更频繁地需要转诊至医院（分别为70.56%和61.97%）。
这项对国家毒理学咨询数据流行病学的首次全面分析表明，1至<3岁的儿童是沙特阿拉伯中毒风险最高的群体之一，药物是主要的暴露源。TCS安全管理的病例比例很高，这表明扩大远程毒理学服务以提高效率和降低成本的可行性和医疗价值。数据驱动的见解可为预防举措、临床指南制定以及通过针对最高风险人群来遏制中毒发生率的战略政策提供参考。
