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Children in poor, rural areas more likely to suffer medication poisoning
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Children living in rural, low-socioeconomic areas were at an increased risk for medication poisoning resulting in referral to a hospital or physician, according to recent research in Clinical Toxicology.
“We hypothesized pediatric drug exposures exist in clusters and are not randomly distributed across western Pennsylvania,” Margaret B. Nguyen, MD, of the division of emergency medicine at Rady Children’s Hospital, San Diego, and colleagues wrote. “Our principal findings demonstrate pediatric drug exposures do, in fact, exist in distinct geographic patterns.”
Margaret B. Nguyen
The researchers analyzed 26,685 calls related to pharmaceutical exposures among children aged younger than 5 years made to the Pittsburgh Poison Center from 2006 through 2010. Statistical analysis, including spatial mapping for clustering and logistic regression, was conducted to determine population characteristics of poisoning incidence. The researchers mapped calls to the poison center based on whether an exposure prompted advice for home treatment or a referral to seek medical assistance.
Spatial analysis revealed there were 22 cluster areas of poison exposures and five cluster areas where calls prompted referrals to medical centers. Study results showed that 65% of the 89 ZIP codes associated with poison exposure clusters where calls prompted referrals were not associated with any exposure clusters. ZIP codes associated with the referral clusters were predominantly low socioeconomic areas with high rates of unemployment and school dropouts, resulting in an OR of 3.2 (95% CI, 2.2-4.7) for children referred to a medical center for a drug exposure.
Anthony F. Pizon
“These results have become a real eye-opener for us,” Anthony F. Pizon, MD, chief of the UPMC division of medical toxicology and associate professor in the department of emergency medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, said in a press release. “We now recognize the population of children most vulnerable to potentially harmful medication exposure. Our hope is that we can better tend to the needs of these children through Poison Center outreach efforts and more effectively prevent childhood poisonings.” – by David Costill
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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