Acute Poisoning among Children Admitted in a Tertiary Care Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study
Introduction: Acute poisoning is one of the critical causes of hospital admission in children worldwide. Understanding the clinico-demographic profile of childhood poisoning will help in developing targeted prevention strategies. This study aimed to find the prevalence of acute poisoning cases amon...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nepal Medical Association
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Journal of Nepal Medical Association |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://jnma.com.np/jnma/index.php/jnma/article/view/8482 |
| Summary: | Introduction: Acute poisoning is one of the critical causes of hospital admission in children worldwide. Understanding the clinico-demographic profile of childhood poisoning will help in developing targeted prevention strategies. This study aimed to find the prevalence of acute poisoning cases among children admitted to a tertiary care hospital.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was done among 4972 children admitted in the pediatric ward, High Dependency Care Unit, and Pediatric Intensive Care Unit of a tertiary care hospital in Nepal. The data were collected from the hospital records from over three years between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2022 after receiving ethical approval from the Institutional Review Committee. A convenience sampling method was used. Data related to the clinical and demographic data were collected from the patients with acute poisoning and analyzed. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated.
Results: Out of 4972 paediatric cases admitted to the hospital, acute poisoning was seen in 57 (1.14%) (0.81-1.39, 95% Confidence Interval) patients. Out of these acute poisoning cases, 31 (54.39%) were accidental. The mean age was 10.10±5.40 years with 35 (61.40%) patients from the adolescent age group.
Conclusions: This study conducted in a Nepalese tertiary care hospital identifies acute poisoning as a notable concern among pediatric admissions.
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| ISSN: | 0028-2715 1815-672X |