The elderly are different from younger adults in many aspects. There are age related physiological changes. They have a higher incidence of comorbidities and use of many medications for chronic conditions, both of which make the elderly more susceptible to acute poisoning and its related consequences.~Although the elderly form a relatively small proportion of those admitted to hospital for acute self-poisoning, the poisoning in them is often more serious, complications are more frequent and a fatal outcome is more common.~The presence of multiple physical, social, and psychiatric problems, with possible difficulties in the diagnosis of poisoning make the management of the elderly more complicated than that of younger poisoned patients. There are three main difficulties in diagnosing acute poisoning in the elderly. At first, it may not be easily obvious that the patient has taken an overdose. Secondly, the presence of pre-existing diseases may obscure the clinical picture and finally, the drug may cause physical signs that similar to common problems of old age.
Acute poisoning is a major public health problem all over the world, it causes significant mortality and morbidity. It primarily involves younger populations, with less than 3% of the affected cases being in people aged 60 years or older in most studies. More than half of the intoxication events in the elderly over 65 years old were accidental.