Forrester Mathias B, Stanley Sharilyn K
Texas Department of Health, 11 W 49th Street, Austin, Texas 78756, USA.
Vet Hum Toxicol. 2003 Dec;45(6):327-30.
Pepper spray is used as an incapacitant agent. Although now available for general use in the US, the health consequences of pepper spray exposures are poorly understood. This study used data from human exposure calls to poison centers in Texas to investigate the epidemiology of pepper spray exposures. During 1998-2002 there were 1,531 human exposures to pepper spray identified by the Texas poison centers. Pepper spray reports declined during the 5-y period of the study. The majority of exposures were unintentional (84%), occurred at home (68%), involved males (56%), and comprised children and adolescents (64%). Risk factors for pepper spray exposure varied by patient age. Although 85% of the pepper spray exposures were managed outside of health care facilities, 97% of exposures involved at least minimal notable clinical effects. Given the level of detectable clinical effects of this intervention and the widespread availability of these agents, there is a need for better education of the public regarding the proper use of pepper spray and the effects of its use.
胡椒喷雾用作一种致残剂。尽管目前在美国已可供大众使用，但人们对接触胡椒喷雾的健康后果了解甚少。本研究利用来自德克萨斯州中毒控制中心接到的人体接触报告数据，调查胡椒喷雾接触的流行病学情况。1998年至2002年期间，德克萨斯州中毒控制中心确认有1531人接触了胡椒喷雾。在该研究的5年期间，胡椒喷雾报告数量有所下降。大多数接触是无意的（84%），发生在家中（68%），涉及男性（56%），且包括儿童和青少年（64%）。胡椒喷雾接触的风险因素因患者年龄而异。尽管85%的胡椒喷雾接触是在医疗保健机构之外处理的，但97%的接触至少产生了轻微的明显临床影响。鉴于这种干预措施可检测到的临床影响程度以及这些制剂的广泛可得性，有必要就胡椒喷雾的正确使用及其使用效果对公众进行更好的教育。
