title: The use of a scientific survey to direct poison center activities.
abstract: To develop a strategy for the development and implementation of future poison center services and prevention education activities, a telephone survey was conducted within the greater metropolitan region. The survey consisted of 58 questions developed to research information in 5 broad categories of consumer awareness of: poisoning accidents and their sources; Mr Yuk and the poison center; consumer response to poisonings; and education. The questionnaire was pretested and then conducted by experienced interviewers. Four hundred interviews were conducted over 12 consecutive days between the hours of 9:00 am and 8:00 pm to accomodate both working men and women. Respondents with a college education had significantly greater awareness of the poison center and Mr Yuk. Sixteen and 6/10 percent of the respondents had actually used the poison center. Homes with parents working outside of the home had a higher incidence of poisoning exposures. Respondents under 50 years of age had a significantly higher awareness of the poison center than those older than 50 (48% vs 27%). Furthermore, more respondents living in households of four or more knew about the poison center compared to smaller households (50% vs 36%). Only 5.5% of the respondents used the Mr Yuk sticker to obtain the telephone number of the poison center. Awareness of the poison center was 89.8%.
authors.affiliation: Pittsburgh Poison Center, PA 15213.
authors.forename: E P
authors.initials: EP
authors.lastname: Krenzelok
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Garber
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Sauer
authors.forename: B S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Dean
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection; D006266:Health Education; D010414:Pennsylvania; D011039:Poison Control Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*