Patient Characteristics Associated With Nonprescription Drug use in Intentional Overdose

This study’s main objective was to identify patient characteristics, particularly psychiatric diagnosis associated with the use of over-the-counter medications in intentional overdose. Findings suggest that suicide-prone patients with a diagnosis of substance abuse & who possess prescription medications are unlikely to use over-the-counter medications in overdose. For this cohort, this represents a relatively small proportion of patients at greater risk for attempting suicide when using over-the-counter medication. (12 refs)