Background: Poisoning is one of the common causes of unnatural deaths and continues to a major health problem in the developing countries. Material & Method: A prospective study of sociodemographic profile of poisoning cases of Gulbarga region from1st January 2004 to 31st December 2005 using the data from hospital admission papers, police records, postmortem reports, suicide notes if any, history from the relatives & friends accompanying the deceased and chemical analysis report from Regional Forensic Science Laboratory. Results: Out of 910 autopsies conducted in District Hospital of Gulbarga, during the study period, 188 were due to poisoning. Majority of the victims were in the age group of 20 to 30 years. More than three fourth of the victim were from rural areas. Distribution of suicidal cases showed male preponderance, majority of the victims being illiterate and agriculturist by occupation with maximum number of fatalities in the month of August. Most of the cases were suicidal in nature and financial problem was the most common reason for consumption of poisons. Chronic illnesses, harassment by in-laws, psychiatric illness, and academic failure were the other main reasons for poisoning. Chemical analysis report showed that Organophosphorus groups of compounds were the most commonly found poison. Organochlorines and carbamate compounds were the other commonly used poisons.

Key words: Poisonings, Suicide, Organophosphorus compounds