Table 2.
Characteristics of First-Ranked Loperamide Cases Reported to US Poison Centers by Reason for Exposure, National Poison Data System 2010–2022
| Characteristics | Unintentional reasons | Intentional reasons | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| General n (%)a |
Therapeutic Error n (%)a |
Misuse n (%)a |
Otherf n (%)a |
Suspected Suicide n (%)a |
Misuse n (%)a |
Abuse n (%)a |
Unknown n (%)a |
Other n (%)a |
Unknown n |
Total n (%)b |
|
| Sex | |||||||||||
| Male | 3,111 (51.1) | 891 (14.6) | 139 (2.3) | 6 (0.1) | 436 (7.2) | 497 (8.2) | 676 (11.1) | 91 (1.5) | 246 (4.0) | 57 | 6,150 (47.5) |
| Female | 3,224 (48.0) | 1,273 (19.0) | 162 (2.4) | 18 (0.3) | 664 (9.9) | 591 (8.8) | 293 (4.4) | 96 (1.4) | 394 (5.9) | 72 | 6,787 (52.5) |
| Unknown | 25 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 50 | |
| Exposure type | |||||||||||
| Single-substance | 5,796 (52.0) | 2,043 (18.3) | 279 (2.5) | 21 (0.2) | 581 (5.2) | 965 (8.7) | 762 (6.8) | 149 (1.3) | 544 (4.9) | 108 | 11,248 (86.6) |
| Multiple-substance | 564 (32.9) | 126 (7.3) | 22 (1.3) | 4 (0.2) | 525 (30.6) | 127 (7.4) | 210 (12.2) | 41 (2.4) | 96 (5.6) | 24 | 1,739 (13.4) |
| Highest level of health care received | |||||||||||
| No HCF treatment received | 4,342 (59.9) | 1,845 (25.5) | 195 (2.7) | 8 (0.1) | 6 (0.1) | 351 (4.8) | 46 (0.6) | 29 (0.4) | 424 (5.9) | 22 | 7,268 (60.3) |
| Treated/ evaluated and released | 1,344 (55.5) | 159 (6.6) | 45 (1.9) | 4 (0.2) | 276 (11.4) | 278 (11.5) | 221 (9.1) | 30 (1.2) | 63 (2.6) | 15 | 2,435 (20.2) |
| Admitted to a HCF | 205 (10.9) | 44 (2.3) | 21 (1.1) | 11 (0.6) | 687 (36.7) | 236 (12.6) | 551 (29.4) | 87 (4.6) | 32 (1.7) | 60 | 1,934 (16.0) |
| CCU | 61 (6.5) | 15 (1.6) | 7 (0.7) | 7 (0.7) | 268 (28.4) | 123 (13.0) | 393 (41.6) | 55 (5.8) | 15 (1.6) | 35 | 979 (8.1) |
| Non-CCU | 133 (22.7) | 28 (4.8) | 12 (2.1) | 4 (0.7) | 161 (27.5) | 93 (15.9) | 118 (20.2) | 23 (3.9) | 13 (2.2) | 22 | 607 (5.0) |
| Psychiatric facility | 11 (3.2) | 1 (0.3) | 2 (0.6) | 0 (0.0) | 258 (74.8) | 20 (5.8) | 40 (11.6) | 9 (2.6) | 4 (1.2) | 3 | 348 (2.9) |
| Patient refused referral/did not arrive at a HCF | 173 (41.8) | 41 (9.9) | 13 (3.1) | 2 (0.5) | 41 (9.9) | 63 (15.2) | 38 (9.2) | 15 (3.6) | 28 (6.8) | 9 | 423 (3.5) |
| Patient lost to follow-up/Left against medical advice/Unknown | 296 | 80 | 27 | 0 | 96 | 164 | 116 | 29 | 93 | 26 | 927 |
| Medical outcome | |||||||||||
| No effect | 3,016 (73.6) | 434 (10.6) | 57 (1.4) | 2 (0.0) | 286 (7.0) | 188 (4.6) | 69 (1.7) | 20 (0.5) | 28 (0.7) | 16 | 4,116 (34.4) |
| Minor effect | 366 (26.5) | 204 (14.8) | 41 (3.0) | 3 (0.2) | 245 (17.7) | 207 (15.0) | 139 (10.1) | 30 (2.2) | 146 (10.6) | 19 | 1,400 (11.7) |
| Serious medical outcomec | 73 (4.7) | 40 (2.6) | 27 (1.7) | 11 (0.7) | 426 (27.5) | 243 (15.7) | 589 (38.0) | 78 (5.0) | 64 (4.1) | 52 | 1,603 (13.4) |
| Moderate effect | 65 (6.3) | 34 (3.3) | 19 (1.8) | 4 (0.4) | 288 (27.7) | 191 (18.4) | 342 (32.9) | 38 (3.7) | 57 (5.5) | 26 | 1,064 (8.9) |
| Major effect | 8 (1.7) | 6 (1.3) | 6 (1.3) | 7 (1.5) | 127 (27.7) | 49 (10.7) | 214 (46.7) | 34 (7.4) | 7 (1.5) | 22 | 480 (4.0) |
| Death | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (3.6) | 0 (0.0) | 11 (20.0) | 3 (5.5) | 33 (60.0) | 6 (10.9) | 0 (0.0) | 4 | 59 (0.5) |
| Not followedd | 2,508 (51.8) | 1,418 (29.3) | 162 (3.3) | 6 (0.1) | 27 (0.6) | 301 (6.2) | 54 (1.1) | 26 (0.5) | 337 (7.0) | 18 | 4,857 (40.6) |
| Unable to followe | 397 | 73 | 14 | 3 | 122 | 153 | 121 | 36 | 65 | 27 | 1,011 |
| Total (row %) | 6,360 (49.5) | 2,169 (16.9) | 301 (2.3) | 25 (0.2) | 1,106 (8.6) | 1,092 (8.5) | 972 (7.6) | 190 (1.5) | 640 (5.0) | 132 | 12,987 (100.0) |
CCU—Critical Care Unit, HCF—Health Care Facility
aRow percentage may not add to 100.0% due to rounding error
bColumn percentage may not add up to 100.0% due to rounding error
cIncludes moderate effect, major effect, and death
dNot followed (minimal clinical effects possible)
eUnable to follow (judged as a potentially toxic exposure)
fIncludes unintentional-environmental, unintentional-occupational, and unintentional-unknown