Evaluation of etiological factors in childhood poisonings

Objective: Poisoning represents one of the most common medical emergencies in childhood, and epidemiologicalproperties differ from country to country. Thus, special epidemiological surveillance for each country is necessary todetermine the problem according to which preventive measures can be taken. The aim of this study was to identifyregional, familial, socioeconomic and economic characteristics of intoxications and investigate the factors that mayfacilitate such intoxications.Method: 318 poisoning cases aged between 1 month-17 years (44±18 months on average) who were taken to thePediatric Emergency Service of Sivas Cumhuriyet University Faculty of Medicine were evaluated retrospectively.Results: The ratio of poisoning cases to all pediatric emergency admissions was 5.1%. 65.1% of the cases were males,and the ratio of males to females was 1.8:1. Of the poisoning agents, 66% (n: 210) were pharmacologic and 34% (n:108) were non-pharmacologic agents. The highest rate of poisoning was in the 25 months-5 years of age group (75.2%),and the most common poisoning agents were drugs. When evaluated by seasons, 40.3% of the patients referred to thehospital in the summer, 25.2% in the spring, 18.2% in the winter and 16.4% in the autumn. It was determined that66.2% of the poisoning cases occurred at home and 33.8% occurred outside home. Of the poisoning cases, 7.9% weredue to suicide, %11.3 were due to ignorance, %69.2 were accidental, %0.6 were iatrogenic, %0.6 were due toaddiction, %0.3 were due to exposure, %1.6 due to adverse effects and %6.3 were due to other reasons. It wasdetermined that accidental intake of drugs was the most common poisoning agent in our region.Conclusions: This study will contribute significantly in determining the poisoning profile of the region, raisingawareness of healthcare personnel and the society and taking preventive measures.