Deaths by poisoning in Norway 2003-2012.

ABSTRACTContext: Poisoning is an important category of avoidable deaths in Norway and an important public health issue. Close monitoring of any development in this field is essential for effective preventive measures. Objective: To assess the pattern and trends of poisoning mortality in Norway from 2003 to 2012 based on official mortality data. Materials and methods: This is a population-based registry study. We analyzed the underlying external cause of death data, in order to assess poisoning deaths (ICD-10) by accidents (X40-X49); intentional self-harm (suicide) (X60-X69); assault (homicide) (X85-X90); and poisoning of undetermined intent (Y10-Y19). We compared poisoning deaths to other injury mechanisms and used multiple injury cause data to identify substances involved in poisoning deaths. Poisson regression was applied to estimate the trend. Results: Poisoning was the second leading mechanism of injury deaths in Norway from 2003 to 2012, causing between 424 and 496 deaths each year. The rates of pois...