title: A regional poison control system. Effect on response to hypothetical poisonings.
abstract: Poisoning of young children frequently results in parents seeking help. Parents either telephone for poison treatment information or go directly to a physician's office, hospital clinic, or emergency room. To determine if a regional poison control system reduces the inappropriate use of medical treatment services, parents attending suburban and inner-city clinics were presented hypothetical pediatric poisoning episodes and asked how they would respond. Parents living in a state serviced by a regional poison information center (Massachusetts) telephoned for information significantly more often and consequently used medical treatment services 19% less than did parents living in a state with only local poison information centers (New Jersey). In both states, inner-city populations went for care whereas suburban populations called. Both inner-city and suburban populations responded to a regional poison center but to a different extent. More severe ingestions tended to increase the use of the regional center by the Massachusetts suburban population, whereas other populations tended to use even more direct services.
mesh_terms: D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001241:Aspirin / Q000506:poisoning; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006296:Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008404:Massachusetts; D009515:New Jersey; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011039:Poison Control Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012041:Regional Medical Programs; D013383:Suburban Population; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013689:Telephone; D014505:Urban Population
chemical_list: D001241:Aspirin