Table 2 Demographic and epidemiological characteristics of patients (n = 853)
|  | Subgroup | Male (n = 469) | Female (n = 384) | Total (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Number (%) | Number (%) | |||
Demographic variables | ||||
 Region of occurrence | Rural | 322 (64.9) | 273 (71.1) | 595 (69.8) |
Urban | 147 (35.1) | 111 (28.9) | 258 (30.2) | |
 Age of victims (years) | 1–9 | 93 (19.8) | 75 (19.5) | 168 (19.7) |
10–19 | 58 (12.4) | 53 (13.8) | 111 (13.0) | |
20–29 | 112 (23.9) | 74 (19.3) | 186 (21.8) | |
30–39 | 75 (16.0) | 53 (13.8) | 128 (15.0) | |
40–49 | 42 (9.0) | 51 (13.3) | 93 (10.9) | |
>50 | 89 (18.9) | 78 (20.3) | 167 (19.6) | |
 Profession of the victim | Housewife | 0 (0.0) | 257 (66.9) | 257 (30.2) |
Student | 55 (11.7) | 40 (10.4) | 95 (11.1) | |
Employee | 28 (6.0) | 6 (1.6) | 34 (4.0) | |
Unemployed and farmers | 386 (82.3) | 81 (21.1) | 467 (54.7) | |
Epidemiological variables | ||||
 Anatomical region of the sting | Hand | 225 (48.0) | 146 (38.0) | 371 (43.5) |
Leg | 160 (34.1) | 161 (41.9) | 321 (37.7) | |
Trunk | 58 (12.4) | 53 (13.8) | 111 (13.0) | |
Neck | 26 (5.5) | 24 (6.3) | 50 (5.8) | |
 Previous history of venomous sting/bite | Snake bite | 11 (2.3) | 3 (0.8) | 14 (1.6) |
Scorpion sting | 204 (43.5) | 167 (43.5) | 371 (43.4) | |
Unknown | 254 (54.2) | 214 (55.7) | 468 (55.0) | |
 Time (h) elapsed between accident and medical assistance | < 3 | 353 (75.3) | 278 (72.4) | 631 (74.1) |
3–6 | 61 (13.0) | 53 (13.8) | 114 (13.3) | |
> 6 | 55 (11.7) | 53 (13.8) | 108 (12.6) | |
 Location of sting occurrence | Indoors | 210 (44.8) | 248 (64.6) | 458 (53.7) |
Outdoors | 176 (37.5) | 87 (22.7) | 263 (30.9) | |
Unknown | 83 (17.7) | 49 (12.7) | 132 (15.4) | |
 Time of sting | 0–6 | 132 (28.1) | 117 (30.5) | 249 (29.2) |
6–12 | 93 (19.8) | 70 (18.2) | 163 (19.1) | |
12–18 | 60 (12.8) | 48 (12.5) | 108 (12.6) | |
18–24 | 81 (17.4) | 69 (18.0) | 150 (17.6) | |
Unknown | 103 (21.9) | 80 (20.8) | 183 (21.5) | |
 Color of scorpion | Yellow | 363 (77.4) | 300 (78.1) | 663 (77.8) |
Black | 57 (12.2) | 46 (12.0) | 103 (12.1) | |
Unknown | 49 (10.4) | 38 (9.9) | 87 (10.1) | |