Fatal poisoning among American Indian, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white children in New Mexico, 1958 to 1982.
Childhood fatalities from unintentional poisoning are a substantial health problem in New Mexico, which ranks second in the nation in injury-related mortality rates. To determine the extent of poison-related mortality in children in this state, and to examine time trends and differences in mortality rates in New Mexico's American Indian, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white children aged 0 to 14 years, we analyzed vital records collected from 1958 to 1982. New Mexican children experienced higher mortality rates than US white children of similar age--approximately eight times higher for children under 5 years old. Of the three ethnic groups, American Indian children had the highest mortality rates from unintentional poisoning during the 25-year period. Children less than 5 years old were at the highest risk for poison-related fatalities among all three ethnic groups.
Olson
L M
LM
Division of Emergency Medicine, School of Medicine, Albuquerque, NM.
Troutman
W G
WG
Wiggins
C L
CL
Becker
T M
TM
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002423:Cause of Death; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003644:Death Certificates; D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007198:Indians, North American / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D007223:Infant; D009516:New Mexico / Q000453:epidemiology; D011041:Poisoning / Q000208:ethnology / Q000401:mortality*; D044465:White People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*