Botwe Benard Ohene, Anim-Sampong Samuel, Sarkodie Benjamin Dabo, Antwi William K, Obeng-Nkansah Jeannette, Ashong Gabriel G N A
Department of Radiography, School of Biomedical and Allied Health Sciences, University of Ghana, P.O Box KB 143, Accra, Ghana.
University of Ghana School of Medicine and Dentistry, Accra, Ghana.
BMC Res Notes. 2015 Nov 17;8:684. doi: 10.1186/s13104-015-1629-3.
Disastrous effects and lifelong complications, ranging from respiratory and gastrointestinal burns to death can result from caustic soda ingestion. Accidental and non-accidental ingestions occur in different age groups. However, it is very troubling to find ingestion of caustic soda a very common occurrence among children below 5 years since they do not have the developmental level required to independently weigh up risks and are also under parental and societal protections. This study was therefore planned to investigate the ingestions of caustic soda by these children for purposes of proposing measures to curb the problem.
Descriptive survey was employed for this study. A 14-item, semi-structure questionnaire was purposively issued to 57 parents/guardians whose wards had ingested caustic soda. Data was analysed with SPSS V.20.
Twenty-seven (47.4 %) children got access to the soda at storage, 1 (1.86 %) was administered accidentally by a sibling while 29 (50.9 %) ingested during soap preparation. In respect of the former, the majority got access because it was stored in soft drink and water bottles in their parents/guardians rooms or kitchen. For the later, the children got access to the left-over soda because the soap-makers failed to adhere to good storage and disposal practices.
Storage of caustic soda in soft drink and water bottles in accessible places, and training of children to drink directly from bottles influence caustic soda ingestion in children under five. Non-compliance to good practices of storage and disposal of caustic soda during soap preparation increases exposure and access of children to caustic soda ingestion.
摄入苛性钠可导致灾难性后果和终身并发症，从呼吸道和胃肠道烧伤到死亡不等。意外和非意外摄入发生在不同年龄组。然而，令人非常不安的是，发现5岁以下儿童摄入苛性钠的情况非常普遍，因为他们没有独立权衡风险所需的发育水平，而且还受到父母和社会的保护。因此，本研究旨在调查这些儿童摄入苛性钠的情况，以便提出措施来遏制这一问题。
本研究采用描述性调查。向57名其子女摄入苛性钠的父母/监护人发放了一份14项的半结构化问卷。数据用SPSS V.20进行分析。
27名（47.4%）儿童在储存时接触到了苛性钠，1名（1.86%）被兄弟姐妹意外喂食，29名（50.9%）在制备肥皂时摄入。就前者而言，大多数儿童接触到苛性钠是因为它被储存在父母/监护人房间或厨房的软饮料瓶和水瓶中。对于后者，儿童接触到剩余的苛性钠是因为制皂者未遵守良好的储存和处理规范。
将苛性钠储存在容易拿到的软饮料瓶和水瓶中，以及训练儿童直接从瓶子里喝水，会影响5岁以下儿童摄入苛性钠。在制备肥皂过程中不遵守苛性钠的良好储存和处理规范，会增加儿童接触和摄入苛性钠的机会。
