UNINTENTIONAL CHILDHOOD POISONING, EPIDEMIOLOGY AND STRATEGIES FOR THE PREVENTION AND POLICY CHANGE IN PAKISTAN

Authors

  • Omer ul Hassan
  • Hasana Qadri
  • Umer Mir
  • Bilal Ahmed

Abstract

Poisoning is the fifth leading cause of unintentional injuries among young children. Agents most commonly ingested by young children include medicines, cleaning substances, hydrocarbons, pesticides and cosmetics. Children with less educated fathers, living in more crowded conditions and from lower income families are more predisposed to unintentional poisoning. Unsafe storage of medicines, chemicals and other hazardous substances is one of the leading reasons for childhood poisoning. Knowledge of parents and caregivers about prevention of poisoning may be the basis to prevent subsequent injuries. This paper is a review of the epidemiology of unintentional poisonings among young children (less than five years) and its risk factors especially in the context ofPakistan.Keywords: Unintentional Poisoning, Review, Prevention, Pakistan

References

Hyder AA, Sugerman DE, Puvanachandra P, Razzak J, El-Sayed H, Isaza A, Rahman F et al., Global childhood unintentional injury surveillance in four cities in developing countries: a pilot study. Bull World Health Organ 2009;87:345–52.

Schnitzer P.G. Prevention of unintentional childhood injuries. Am Fam Physician 2006;74(11):1864–9.

Unies N. World Population Prospects: The 1998 Revision. 2000: United Nations.

Hyder AA, Wali S, Fishman S, Schenk E. The burden of unintentional injuries among the under-five population in South Asia. Acta Paediatr 2008;97(3):267–75.

Al Fallah M.. Child-resistant containers for preventing childhood poisoning [Protocol]. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2004.

Wilkerson, R., L.D. Northington, and W. Fisher, Ingestion of toxic substances by infants and children: what we don’t know can hurt. Crit Care Nurse 2005;25(4):35–44.

Ahmed B, Fatmi Z, Siddiqui AR, Sheikh AL. Predictors of unintentional poisoning among children under 5 years of age in Karachi: a matched case–control study. Inj Prev 2011;17(1):27–32.

Rodgers, G.B. The safety effects of child-resistant packaging for oral prescription drugs. JAMA 1996;275(21):1661–5.

Petridou E, Kouri N, Polychronopoulou A, Siafas K, Stoikidou M, Trichopoulos D. Risk factors for childhood poisoning: a case-control study in Greece. Inj Prev 1996;2(3):208–11.

Azizi, B.H., H.I. Zulkifli, M.S. Kasim. Risk factors for accidental poisoning in urban Malaysian children. Ann Trop Paediatr 1993;13(2):183–8.

Chatsantiprapa, K., J. Chokkanapitak, N. Pinpradit. Host and environment factors for exposure to poisons: a case-control study of preschool children in Thailand. Inj Prev 2001;7(3):214–7.

Paritsis N, Pallis D, Deligeorgis D, Doxiadis S, Phylactou C, Vlachonicolis I. An epidemiological study of the factors influencing poisoning in children aged 0-5 years. Paediatr Perinat Epidemiol 1994;8(1):79–89.

de Lourdes Drachler M, de Carvalho Leite JC, Marshall T, Anselmo Hess Almaleh CM, Feldens CA, Vitolo MR. Effects of the home environment on unintentional domestic injuries and related health care attendance in infants. Acta Paediatr 2007;96(8):1169–73.

Dal Santo JA, Goodman RM, Glik D, Jackson K. Childhood unintentional injuries: factors predicting injury risk among preschoolers. J Pediatr Psychol 2004;29(4):273–83.

Shenassa, E.D., A. Stubbendick, M.J. Brown, Social disparities in housing and related pediatric injury: a multilevel study. Am Public Health Assoc 2004;94(4):633–9.

Jacobson BJ, Rock AR, Cohn MS, Litovitz T. Accidental ingestions of oral prescription drugs: a multicenter survey. Am J Public Health 1989;79(7):853–6.

Singh S, Singhi S, Sood NK, Kumar L, Walia BN. Changing pattern of childhood poisoning (1970-1989): experience of a large north Indian hospital. Indian pediatr 1995;32(3):331–6.

Watson WA, Litovitz TL, Klein-Schwartz W, Rodgers GC Jr, Youniss J, Reid N et al., 2003 annual report of the American Association of Poison Control Centers Toxic Exposure Surveillance System. Am J Emerg Med 2004;22(5):335–404.

Ahmed B, Fatmi Z, Siddiqui AR, Sheikh AL. Predictors of unintentional poisoning among children under 5 years of age in Karachi: a matched case control study. Inj Prev 2011. 17(1):27–32.

Coyne-Beasley T1, Runyan CW, Baccaglini L, Perkis D, Johnson RM. Storage of poisonous substances and firearms in homes with young children visitors and older adults. Am J Prev Med 2005;28(1):109–15.

Sawalha, AF., Storage and utilization patterns of cleaning products in the home: Toxicity implications. Accid Anal Prev 2007;39(6):1186–91.

Soori, H. Developmental risk factors for unintentional childhood poisoning. Saudi Med J 2001;22(3):227–30.

Woolf, A.D., A. Saperstein, S. Forjuoh. Poisoning prevention knowledge and practices of parents after a childhood poisoning incident. Pediatrics 1992;90(6):867–70.

Schwartz S, Eidelman AI, Zeidan A, Applebaum D, Raveh D. Childhood accidents: the relationship of family size to incidence, supervision, and rapidity of seeking medical care. Isr Med Assoc J 2005;7(9):558–63.

Morrongiello, B.A., T.J. MacIsaac, N. Klemencic. Older siblings as supervisors: Does this influence young children's risk of unintentional injury? Soc Sci Med 2007;64(4):807–17.

Ahmed, B., Z. Fatmi, A.R. Siddiqui, Population Attributable Risk of Unintentional Childhood Poisoning in Karachi Pakistan. PloS one 2011;6(10):e26881.

Ramsay LJ, Moreton G, Gorman DR, Blake E, Goh D, Elton RA, et al., Unintentional home injury in preschool-aged children: looking for the key—an exploration of the inter-relationship and relative importance of potential risk factors. Public health 2003;117(6):404–11.

Akhtar, S., G.R. Rani, F. Al-Anizi. Risk factors in acute poisoning in children-A retrospective study. Kuwait Med J 2006;38(1):33.

Snodgrass, AM. Ang A. Unintentional injuries in infants in Singapore. Singapore Med J 2006;47(5):376–82.

Peden M. World report on child injury prevention. Inj Prev 2008;14(6):413–4.

Franklin RL., Rodgers GB. Unintentional child poisonings treated in United States hospital emergency departments: national estimates of incident cases, population-based poisoning rates, and product involvement. Pediatrics 2008;122(6):1244–51.

Ghaffar A, Hyder AA, Mastoor MI, Shaikh I. Injuries in Pakistan: directions for future health policy. Health Policy Plan 1999;14(1):11–7.

Ordoñana JR, A Caspi, TE Moffitt. Unintentional injuries in a twin study of preschool children: environmental, not genetic, risk factors. J Pediatr Psychol 2008;33(2):185–94.

Malangu N. Acute poisoning at two hospitals in Kampala–Uganda. J Forensic Leg Med 2008;15(8):489–92.

Jacobson BJ. Rock AR, Cohn MS, Litovitz T. Accidental ingestions of oral prescription drugs: a multicenter survey. Am J Public Health 1989;79(7):853–6.

Odendaal, W., et al., The impact of a home visitation programme on household hazards associated with unintentional childhood injuries: A randomised controlled trial. Accid Anal Preven 2009;41(1):183–90.

King WJ, Klassen TP, LeBlanc J, Bernard-Bonnin AC, Robitaille Y, Pham B, et al., The effectiveness of a home visit to prevent childhood injury. Pediatrics 2001;108(2):382–8

Published

2013-07-01