Poisoning in the elderly.

A prospective evaluation of poison exposure calls, in reference to persons greater than or equal to 60 years of age, was performed at the Maryland Poison Center during a six-month period in 1981. Each call was examined with respect to location of exposure, caller, circumstance, treatment location, and final outcome. The study group consisted of 237 persons, of whom 66 per cent were women. The majority of callers were not medical personnel, and the most common location for exposure was the home. Most exposures occurred by the oral route and were the result of an accident (83.1 per cent) as opposed to suicide (14.8 per cent) or drug abuse (1.7 per cent), which are more frequent in younger adults. Although only 27.4 per cent of the study population received treatment in an emergency room or required hospital admission, the probability of admission for the elderly person seen in the emergency room was significantly greater than that for younger adults and the children. Of the four fatalities that occurred, three were classified as suicides and one as an accident.