{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,9]],"date-time":"2026-09-09T22:38:32Z","timestamp":1788993512159,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]],"date-time":"2025-10-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1759276800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Toxicol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Background<\/jats:title><jats:p>Drug poisoning is a growing public health concern, affecting both adult and pediatric populations. The COVID-19 pandemic has further influenced the incidence and patterns of these episodes. This study describes the clinical and epidemiological characteristics of drug poisoning episodes in adult and pediatric patients treated at a tertiary hospital in Spain between 2018 and 2024.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Materials and methods<\/jats:title><jats:p>This retrospective, observational, single-center study used data from the Spanish Minimum Basic Data Set of Hospital Discharges (CMBD-AH). All hospitalizations coded with a diagnosis of drug poisoning (ICD-10-ES: T36\u2013T50) were included. Variables analyzed included demographics, type of admission, drug class involved, intentionality, length of stay, ICU admission and duration, and clinical outcomes.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 2,989 episodes with at least one drug poisoning code were identified in 2,481 patients (85.7% adults; 14.3% pediatric). The median age was 55\u00a0years in adults and 14\u00a0years in pediatric patients. Females predominated in both groups. Self-poisoning was the most frequent intentionality (52.4% in adults; 54.7% in pediatric patients), while accidental poisonings were more common in pediatric patients under 12 and adults over 60. Benzodiazepines were the most frequently involved drug-class across all age groups; in pediatric self-poisoning, paracetamol was most commonly implicated. ICU admission was required in 9.6% of pediatric and 9.2% of adult episodes. Mortality was reported in 3.3% of adult and 0.5% of pediatric episodes. Additionally, 12.5% of patients experienced recurrent episodes. A significant post-COVID increase in poisoning episodes was observed (p &amp;lt; 0.001).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title><jats:p>Although drug poisoning represented only 1.7% of all hospital discharges, it posed a substantial burden due to its frequency, recurrence, and ICU requirements. The CMBD-AH is a valuable tool for characterizing drug-related hospitalizations across age groups. Strengthened toxicovigilance, targeted prevention strategies, and early mental health interventions are essential to reduce its impact on healthcare systems.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/ftox.2025.1672470","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]],"date-time":"2025-10-01T05:50:48Z","timestamp":1759297848000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Hospital admissions for acute drug poisoning in adults and children: a 7-year retrospective analysis of hospital discharges at a tertiary center"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"7","author":[{"given":"Daniel","family":"Wang","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lina","family":"Camacho-Arteaga","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Rosario","family":"Mu\u00f1oz Gallar\u00edn","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Immaculada","family":"Dan\u00e9s","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ant\u00f2nia","family":"Agust\u00ed Escasany","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","first-page":"188","article-title":"Circumstances involved in unsupervised solid dose medication exposures among young children","volume-title":"Journal of Pediatrics","author":"Agarwal","year":"2020"},{"key":"B2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"990262","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2022.990262","article-title":"Clinical and sociodemographic profile of acute intoxications in an emergency department: a retrospective cross-sectional study","volume":"10","author":"Aguil\u00f3n-Leiva","year":"2022","journal-title":"Front. 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