Katherine Ting-Wei Lee BSc. (Hons), MSc., PhD¹, Rexson Tse BSc MBBS MD FRCPA FFSc FFPMI ^{1, 2} 

Rebecca Adams BPsych ¹, Isabella Thompson BMedSt MD ³, Zeena Gadsby B.Med MD ³, Jeremy Martin BHSc (Hons.), MD ^{1, 3}, Annettee Edser BSc (Hons) ², Melissa Thompson MBBS MPH MPhil FRCPA ^{1, 2} * 

¹ Griffith University School of Medicine and Dentistry, Southport, QLD, Australia. 

² Forensic Pathology and Coronial Services, Coopers Plains, Queensland, Australia. 

³ Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia   

*Corresponding Author 

Introduction. Toxicology-related deaths are understudied, especially in regional and local setting. Postmortem toxicological data may help identify regional drug use patterns and guide targeted local interventions.

Methods. A five-year retrospective study on all toxicology-related deaths admitted to Gold Coast University Hospital, Queensland, Australia.

Results. A total of 291 toxicology related deaths were identified in which majority were drug related (n=254, 87.3%). Drug-related deaths were more commonly associated with polydrug use (median = 3.4 drugs). Prescribed drugs were most frequently detected and were more commonly associated with older population (p < 0.05). Whereas illicit drugs were mostly detected in the younger population, in particularly male (p < 0.05); whereas paracetamol and/or antidepressants were more commonly detected in females (p <0.05). For non-drug toxicology related deaths, alcohol was rarely a sole cause of non-drug-related toxicology-related deaths while the most common cause of gas/fume related death was carbon monoxide.

Conclusion. Public health interventions and better regulation of access to various drug and non-drug substances, and review of potential inappropriate prescribing practices may help address the burden of toxicology-related deaths. In addition, more studies to understand the differences in toxicology-related death in relation to sex and age could help identify modifiable risk factors.