Pediatric poisonings in southeast of Turkey: epidemiological and clinical aspects

Abstract

<jats:p> Current detailed information about the causes, management, and clinical course of acute childhood poisonings in Turkey is scarce. Therefore, we have conducted a descriptive study of children presenting with acute poisoning to the pediatric emergency department of Dicle University Hospital throughout an 8-month period. Two hundred unselected children with poisoning were evaluated in terms of clinical, epidemiological and socioeconomic aspects. The mean age of patients was 5.7 ± 4.0 years. The majority of the patients ( n = 108, 54%) were aged from 13 months to 4 years ( P &lt; 0.05). In majority of patients (66.5%, n = 133), poisonings were accidental. Intentional poisonings accounted for 3.5% ( n = 7) and food poisoning accounted for 30% ( n = 60) of all cases. The families had more than three children in 129 (97%) of accidentally poisoned and in seven (100%) of intentionally poisoned patients, six were girls and one was a boy. The parents of most patients were uneducated. Furthermore, more than two third of families had low level of income. In all, 171 patients (85.5%) were discharged after an observation period of 24 h. Four patients died. In conclusion, factors such as low educational level of parents, presence of more than three children in the family, and low income increase the incidence of childhood poisonings. The low educational level of girls increases the incidence of intentional poisoning. </jats:p>

Risk factors of acute poisoning among children: A study at a poisoning unit of a university hospital in Egypt

“…Ozdogan et al 13 found that the highest incidences of poisoning occurred in children in the age group of 13 months to 4 years. In this age group, putting small foreign objects like drugs into mouth by children can cause poisoning.…”

“…In several studies, it has been reported that 51.4%-73.3% of all poisoning cases observed in Turkey involved children <5 years of age. [10][11][12][13] It was observed that in developed countries, the percentage of pediatric emergency service admissions for poisoning was between 0.28% and 0.66%. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] .…”

“…[10][11][12][13] It was observed that in developed countries, the percentage of pediatric emergency service admissions for poisoning was between 0.28% and 0.66%. [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15] . According to these findings, it is postulated that poisonings are still an important issue in Egypt (very low proportion in developed countries when compared to the proportion of the present study).…”

Intoxicações exógenas em crianças menores de seis anos atendidas em hospitais da região metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro

“…Em outras regiões do Brasil e do mundo o chumbinho não aprece como problema de saúde pública tão grave como no Rio de Janeiro, optou-se por separá-lo em nossa análise, mas esta decisão também dificulta a comparação com os resultados de outros estudos. Porém, considerando que o grupo dos "outros pesticidas" representaria aproximadamente o conjunto de agrotóxicos disponíveis em outras regiões, pode-se perceber que a prevalência de cerca de 7% obtida nesta investigação não destoa significativamente dos resultados de outros estudos 6,8,10,15 , ainda que um estudo na Turquia tenha encontrado cerca de 17% de intoxicações por pesticidas entre menores de cinco anos de idade atendidos em um serviço de emergência 16 .…”

The Comparison of Accidental Poisonings Between Pharmaceuticals and Nonpharmaceuticals in Children Younger than 3 Years

“…The identification of the epidemiology and risk factors in childhood poisonings is important for decisions regarding effective preventive measures; however, the epidemiology and characteristics of poisonings in children vary among different nations. [5][6][7][8][9] In addition, little information has been published regarding the differences in poisonings by pharmaceuticals and nonpharmaceuticals in children.…”