PATTERNS AND ASSOCIATED RISK FACTORS OF POISOINING CASES IN PEDIATRIC EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT OF SPHMMC

Abstract

Summary Background: Acute pediatric poisoning represents a frequent cause of admission to the emergency departments. Poisoning is a common cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. People can be exposed to poisons either intentionally or accidentally. Designing appropriate treatment or prevention approaches depends on understanding of the nature and pattern of poisoning in a specific place. Information on the patterns of acute poisoning in Ethiopian hospitals is limited. This study was, therefore, conducted to evaluate the patterns of acute poisoning in SPHMMC Addis Ababa Ethiopia. Objective: Acute Poisoning in children is still an important public health problem and represents a frequent cause of admission in emergency units. The epidemiological surveillance specific for each country is necessary to determine the extent and characteristics of the problem, according to which related preventive measures can be taken. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Pediatric Emergency Department of SPHMMC, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Description of demographics of children with acute poisoning and factors associated with time to presentation and nature of poisoning was analyzed. Data was entered to Epi info 3.5.3 and analyzed with SPSS version 20. Timeline: The study was conducted on the total of cases that needed emergency admission in the year 2007 - 2009 EC. Results: Over three years, a total of 78 children were admitted for acute poisoning. The mean age of victims was 5.57 years. The majority (62.8%) were poisoned by household chemicals. Most poisoning incidents (73.1%) were unintentional in nature. Children with age more than 10 years were more likely to have intentional poisoning. Conclusion: Children become victims of acute poisoning mostly secondary to inadequate supervision by caregivers, unsafe storage of potentially poisonous substances, and unsafe environment. As these risk factors are significantly associated with unintentional poisoning, the effect of community education to enhance vigilance, safe storage, and assurance of safe environment should be evaluated.