Trends in Pediatric Poisoning-Related Emergency Department Visits: 2001–2011

Objectives We sought to understand the burden of pediatric poisonings on the health care system by characterizing poisoning-related emergency department (ED) visits among children on a national level. Methods This was a repeated cross-sectional analysis of the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey from 2001 to 2011 of children 21 years or younger who presented to an ED. We measured annual rates of visits, trends over time, and patient and visit characteristics associated with poisoning-related ED visits using multivariable logistic regression. We also compared accidental to intentional poisonings. Results There were an estimated 713,345 ED visits per year for poisoning in children, and intentional poisoning–related visits increased over the study period (P trend
Source: Pediatric Emergency Care - Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research