title: Pesticide-Related Hospitalizations Among Children and Teenagers in Texas, 2004-2013.
abstract: Acute exposure to pesticides is associated with nausea, headaches, rashes, eye irritation, seizures, and, in severe cases, death. We characterized pesticide-related hospitalizations in Texas among children and teenagers for 2004-2013 to characterize exposures in this population, which is less well understood than pesticide exposure among adults.
  
  
  
  We abstracted information on pesticide-related hospitalizations from hospitalization data using pesticide-related International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) codes and E-codes. We calculated the prevalence of pesticide-related hospitalizations among children and teenagers aged #19 years for all hospitalizations, unintentional exposures, intentional exposures, pesticide classifications, and illness severity. We also calculated age- and sex-specific prevalence of pesticide-related hospitalizations among children.
  
  
  
  The prevalence of pesticide-related hospitalizations among children and teenagers was 2.1 per 100,000 population. The prevalence of pesticide-related hospitalizations per 100,000 population was 2.7 for boys and 1.5 for girls. The age-specific prevalence per 100,000 population was 5.3 for children aged 0-4 years, 0.3 for children and teenagers aged 5-14 years, and 2.3 for teenagers aged 15-19 years. Children aged 0-4 years had the highest prevalence of unintentional exposures, whereas teenagers aged 15-19 years had the highest prevalence of intentional exposures. Commonly reported pesticide categories were organophosphates/carbamates, disinfectants, rodenticides, and other pesticides (e.g., pyrethrins, pyrethroids). Of the 158 pesticide-related hospitalizations, most were coded as having minor (n=86) or moderate (n=40) illness severity.
  
  
  
  Characterizing the prevalence of pesticide-related hospitalizations among children and teenagers leads to a better understanding of the burden of pesticide exposures, including the type of pesticides used and the severity of potential health effects. This study found differences in the frequency of pesticide-related hospitalizations by sex, age, and intent (e.g., unintentional vs. intentional).
authors.affiliation: Texas A&M University Health Science Center, School of Public Health, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, College Station, TX.
authors.forename: Amber B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Trueblood
authors.affiliation: Texas A&M Transportation Institute, Center for Transportation Safety, College Station, TX.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Shipp
authors.affiliation: Texas A&M Health Science Center, School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, College Station, TX.
authors.forename: Daikwon
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Han
authors.affiliation: Texas A&M Health Science Center, School of Public Health, Department of Public Health Studies, College Station, TX.
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ross
authors.affiliation: Texas A&M University Health Science Center, School of Public Health, Department of Environmental & Occupational Health, College Station, TX.
authors.forename: Leslie H
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Cizmas
mesh_terms: D000061:Accidents, Home; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005260:Female; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D010575:Pesticides / Q000506:poisoning*; D013781:Texas; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010575:Pesticides