NSW Poisons Information Centre, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW
NSW Poisons Information Centre, Children's Hospital at Westmead, Sydney, NSW.
Med J Aust. 2018 Jul 16;209(2):74-79. doi: 10.5694/mja17.01063. Epub 2018 Jul 9.
To characterise the types of calls received by Australian Poisons Information Centres (PICs) in Australia, and to analyse poisoning exposures by age group, circumstances of exposure, and the types of substances involved. Design, setting: Retrospective analysis of call records from all four Australian PICs (national coverage).
Basic demographic information; exposure circumstances, substance types involved in each age group; recommendations for management (eg, stay at home, go to hospital).
There were 204 906 calls to Australian PICs in 2015, 69.0% from the general public, 27.9% from health professionals; 16.2% of calls originated from hospitals. 170 469 calls (including re-calls about an exposure) related to 164 363 poison exposure events; 64.4% were unintentional, 18.1% were the consequences of medication error, and 10.7% involved deliberate self-poisoning. Most exposures were of 20-74-year-old adults (40.1%) or 1-4-year-old toddlers (36.0%). The PICs advised callers to stay at home for 67.4% of exposures, and to present to hospital for 10.9%. The most common substances involved in exposures overall were household cleaners (10.2%) and paracetamol-containing analgesics (7.3%). Exposures of infants and toddlers were most frequently to household cleaning substances (17.8%, 15.3% respectively) and personal care items (6.6%, 7.3%); callers were usually advised to stay at home (88.5%, 86.4%). Deliberate self-poisoning (49.1%) and hospital referral (23.9%) were most frequent for adolescents. Exposures of adults (20-74 years) frequently involved psychotropic pharmaceuticals (17.8%) or painkillers (15.1%). Exposures in adults over 74 were typically medication errors involving cardiovascular (23.6%), anticoagulant (4.6%), or antidiabetic (4.1%) medications.
Poisoning is a significant public health problem throughout life, but the nature of the hazards differs markedly between age groups. PIC data could inform strategic public health interventions that target age-specific poisoning hazards.
描述澳大利亚毒物信息中心（PIC）接到的电话类型，分析按年龄组、暴露情况和涉及物质对中毒暴露的情况。设计、设置：对澳大利亚四个 PIC 的所有电话记录进行回顾性分析（全国范围）。
基本人口统计学信息；每个年龄组涉及的暴露情况、物质类型；管理建议（例如，留在家中、去医院）。
2015 年澳大利亚 PIC 接到 204906 个电话，其中 69.0%来自公众，27.9%来自卫生专业人员；16.2%的电话来自医院。170469 个（包括对暴露的重复电话）与 164363 个中毒暴露事件相关；64.4%是意外的，18.1%是药物错误的后果，10.7%涉及故意自我中毒。大多数暴露发生在 20-74 岁的成年人（40.1%）或 1-4 岁的幼儿（36.0%）中。毒物中心建议 67.4%的暴露者留在家中，10.9%的暴露者去医院。总体而言，最常见的暴露物质是家用清洁剂（10.2%）和含对乙酰氨基酚的镇痛药（7.3%）。婴儿和幼儿的暴露最常涉及家用清洁物质（分别为 17.8%、15.3%）和个人护理用品（6.6%、7.3%）；通常建议他们留在家中（88.5%、86.4%）。青少年最常发生故意自我中毒（49.1%）和医院转诊（23.9%）。20-74 岁成年人的暴露经常涉及精神药物（17.8%）或止痛药（15.1%）。74 岁以上成年人的暴露通常是涉及心血管（23.6%）、抗凝剂（4.6%）或抗糖尿病药物（4.1%）的药物错误。
中毒是一个贯穿一生的重大公共卫生问题，但危害的性质在不同年龄组之间有显著差异。毒物信息中心的数据可以为针对特定年龄组中毒危害的战略性公共卫生干预措施提供信息。
