Background and purpose: Poisoning is one of the main reasons for hospital admissions and even death. In recent years the incidence of poisoning has increased due to development of new drugs and chemical compounds. We performed an epidemiological study of acute poisoning in patients admitted to Qaemshahr Razi Hospital, Iran.

Materials and methods: This research is a retrospective epidemiological study of acute poisoning that included 915 patients admitted to Qaemshahr Razi Hospital in 2014. Data was collected in a checklist and the results were analyzed by statistical tests.

Results: The mean age of patients admitted to hospital was 27±12 years old including 54.86% males and 45.14% females. Among these 52% were married. Suicidal poisoning was found in 71.80%, of whom 4.8% have had a previous suicide attempt. The main cause of poisoning was drug intake (78.30%) and death occurred in 1.42% among the cases admitted to hospital. 

Conclusion: Most of the cases were intentional suicidal poisoning. Women and young individuals are at higher risk of poisoning. Therefore, these groups need to receive more attention and supports for which creating safe and peaceful family environments could be an effective factor.