title: Hospitalizations for pediatric intoxication: a study from Istanbul.
abstract: The objective of this study was to describe the epidemiological features of pediatric patients hospitalized for intoxication. Data were collected from the medical records of children < or =14 years of age, admitted for intoxication in 2005-2007. Of the 2989 admissions, 330 (11%) were intoxication cases; 238 (72.1%) were <5 years old. Pharmaceutic agents were identified in 76.1%. Psychotropics were the most frequently ingested drugs (33.9%), and tricyclic antidepressants were the most common (27.1%). Non-pharmaceutic agents were identified in 79 (23.9%) patients, 54.4% of which were pesticides. The majority of all cases were accidental poisonings (90%), which occurred mostly in children <5 years old (71.5%), mainly by pharmaceutics, followed by self-inflicted intoxications (8.2%), which demonstrated the highest ratio in children >10 years old (6.7%). Intoxications are important especially among children <5 years old. Preventive measures such as implementation of the use of child-proof drug prescription bottles and efforts towards public education may reduce the risks.
authors: Department of Pediatrics I, Dr. Lütfi Kirdar Kartal Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
authors: Yasemin
authors: Y
authors: Akin
authors: Turgut
authors: T
authors: Ağzikuru
authors: Serdar
authors: S
authors: Cömert
authors: Pinar
authors: P
authors: Atilkan
authors: Gülay Ciler
authors: GC
authors: Erdağ
authors: Berrin
authors: B
authors: Telatar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D011041:Poisoning / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012621:Seasons; D013997:Time Factors; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology