Adolescent poisoning: a comparison of accidental and intentional exposures.
The fact that intentional drug and toxic substance use/abuse by adolescents has dramatically increased during the past 2 decades often overshadows the knowledge that adolescents also suffer accidental poisonings as well. A 1-year retrospective analysis of 1,879 poison exposures involving children 13 to 17 years of age revealed 894 (47.6%) were due to accidental circumstances and 945 (50.2%) were intentional in nature. Nonpharmaceuticals were involved in 63.5% of all accidental adolescent poisonings versus 36.5% involving various drugs. Intentional nonpharmaceutical exposures were 17.5% compared to total intentional adolescent poisonings, while 82.5% involved drugs. Site of exposure was the child's own home in 1,252 (66.7%) cases, school in 201 (10.8%), the workplace in 35 (1.9%), and other/unknown sites accounted for 387 (20.6%) poisonings. Poisoning by ingestion accounted for 1,408 (74.9%) of the adolescent exposures, inhalations 147 (7.8%), ocular 219 (11.5%), and dermal 110 (5.8%). Management at the nearest health care facility (HCF) was necessary in 1,252 (66.6%) of the poisonings versus 627 (33.4%) who were treated in non-HCF environments. Regional poison centers must be cognizant that accidental as well as intentional poisoning can occur with adolescents. Distinct viable prevention strategies should be developed to address these problems.
Dean
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Pittsburgh Poison Center, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, PA.
Krenzelok
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D000059:Accidents; D000293:Adolescent; D006801:Humans; D011039:Poison Control Centers; D011041:Poisoning; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders