ISSN Print 2713-2757
ISSN Online 2713-2765
Extreme Medicine
SCIENTIFIC AND PRACTICAL REVIEWED JOURNAL OF FMBA OF RUSSIA
ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Patterns of acute chemical poisonings in a metropolis against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020-2021
About authors
1 Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine, Moscow Health Department, Moscow, Russia
2 Federal State Autonomous Educational Institution of Higher Education I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation (Sechenovskiy University), Moscow, Russia
3 Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Further Professional Education «Russian Medical Academy of Continuous Professional Education» of the Ministry of Healthcare of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia
Correspondence should be addressed: Sergey A. Solonin
B. Sukharevskaya ploschad, 3, str. 1, Moscow, 129090, Russia; moc.oohay@ninolos
About paper
Author contribution: Solonin SA — study idea, design development, data collection and processing, article authoring, analysis of the results; Belova MV — study design development, data collection and processing, article authoring; Tereshkina NE — article authoring, data collection, participation in the analysis of results; Kasholkina EA — data processing (technical part), data collection; Tyurin IA — data processing (technical part), participation in the analysis of results; Godkov MA — data processing, article editing and approval; Potskhveriya MM — article editing and approval.
Received: 2023-10-06
Accepted: 2023-11-27
Published online: 2023-12-29
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The spread of COVID-19 in Russia has led to restrictive measures. The stress associated therewith had a noticeable psychoemotional effect on the population, which could not but affect the numbers and patterns of acute chemical poisonings (ACP). This study aimed to investigate the patterns of ACP in Moscow in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. We analyzed data describing cases admitted with ACP to N.V. Sklifosovsky Research Institute for Emergency Medicine in 2019–2021, factoring in the dynamics COVID-19 prevalence as diagnosed with RT-PCR tests. The results of the analysis were processed using nonparametric methods and GraphPad Prism 9 software. Within the considered period, 2020 was the peak year. The number of acute poisonings (AP) with ethanol and its surrogates in 2020 was 109.7% greater than in 2019 (both sexes; the figure for women alone was 286.2%). Male patients suffered AP with drugs and corrosive substances more often than female (p < 0.0001). The number of drug abuse cases in 2019–2021 varied slightly, increasing by 2.4 and 6.7% annually. Synthetic narcotic substances were most common: methadone, cathinones, psychostimulants, and mixtures of substances. We discovered parallel trends in dynamics of ethanol intoxication and COVID-19 cases, and no such between drug poisonings and the said morbidity. Thus, the identified specifics of ACP patterns in the capital of Russia associated with the COVID-19 pandemic are a spike in alcohol abuse (especially among women), and lack of noticeable effect of the disease on use of drugs.