Premium
Epidemiology of accidental poisoning in children
Author(s) -
O'Connor Peter J.
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
medical journal of australia
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.904
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1326-5377
pISSN - 0025-729X
DOI - 10.5694/j.1326-5377.1983.tb122400.x
Subject(s) - epidemiology , accidental , medicine , medical emergency , injury prevention , suicide prevention , occupational safety and health , poison control , environmental health , pediatrics , family medicine , pathology , physics , acoustics
A recent national study of accidents to Australian children has shown that poisoning is a major cause of morbidity. However, the development of preventive strategies is hampered by the lack of detailed epidemiological studies of the problem. I report the results of a detailed study of cases of poisoning among children attending the Casualty Department of the Adelaide Children's Hospital. They indicate at‐risk groups which are in need of specific preventive programmes. I stress the need to educate parents, and argue that hospitals have an important role to play in this process.