Department of Health Studies, Texas Woman's University, PO Box 425499, Denton, TX 76204-5499, USA.
Accid Anal Prev. 2011 May;43(3):1010-4. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2010.11.032. Epub 2010 Dec 21.
Unintentional poisonings are a major public health issue in the United States (US). With the increasing number of Hispanics in the US, childhood poisoning is a salient public health issue to address within this population. There is a paucity of research examining the relationship between acculturation in Hispanics and the safe storage of medicines and cleaners. The purpose of the study was to determine if demographic variables, such as acculturation in Hispanics, age, gender and education, were predictive of incorrectly storing medicines and household cleaners.
We conducted a study among parents/guardians of small children at two pediatric primary care clinics in the Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) Metropolitan area. We enrolled 201 parents to identify where they stored medicines and household cleaners, and measured acculturation with the Short Acculturation Scale for Hispanics.
Of Hispanic participants, 49% were categorized as less acculturated (n = 99) while 21% were more acculturated (n = 42). Less acculturated participants were over 4 times more likely to store medicines incorrectly, and participants with a high school education or less were over 3 times more likely to improperly store cleaners. With each additional child in the household, the risk for improper storage of cleaners increased by 44%.
The fact that children of less acculturated families are at greater risk for poisoning and have lower levels of education demonstrates the need for readable educational materials on this salient topic. Because social networks are integral in Hispanic culture, especially among new immigrants, poison prevention messages should be disseminated by interpersonal communications.
在美国，非故意中毒是一个主要的公共卫生问题。随着美国西班牙裔人口的增加，儿童中毒是该人群中一个需要解决的突出公共卫生问题。关于西班牙裔人的文化适应与安全储存药物和清洁剂之间的关系的研究很少。本研究的目的是确定人口统计学变量（如西班牙裔人的文化适应、年龄、性别和教育程度）是否可以预测药物和家用清洁剂的储存方式是否正确。
我们在达拉斯/沃思堡（DFW）大都市区的两家儿科初级保健诊所对幼儿的父母/监护人进行了一项研究。我们招募了 201 位父母，以确定他们储存药物和家用清洁剂的位置，并使用西班牙语短文化适应量表来衡量他们的文化适应程度。
在西班牙裔参与者中，49%被归类为文化适应程度较低（n = 99），而 21%被归类为文化适应程度较高（n = 42）。文化适应程度较低的参与者将药物储存不正确的可能性高出 4 倍，而具有高中或以下学历的参与者将清洁剂储存不正确的可能性高出 3 倍。家庭中每增加一个孩子，清洁剂储存不当的风险就会增加 44%。
文化适应程度较低的家庭的孩子中毒风险更高，受教育程度更低，这表明需要针对这个突出问题提供可读性强的教育材料。由于社交网络在西班牙裔文化中至关重要，尤其是在新移民中，应通过人际交流传播预防中毒的信息。
