The Risk of Accidental Chemical Poisoning Cases among Children (≤12 Years Old) Admitted to Hospital University Sains Malaysia: 5 Years Review

• Main Authors: Nasir, Mohamad, Liyana Hazwani, Mohd Adnan, Jahangir, Kamaldin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: 2013
• Subjects: Q Science (General)
• Online Access: http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/4401/1/FH02-FPSK-14-00646.pdf; http://eprints.unisza.edu.my/4401/
• Institution: Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin

Unintentional poisoning has been reported to commonly occur among children. Most of the poisoning cases were attributed to the household chemical products. Hence, a retrospective analysis of medical records of chemical poisoning cases among children ≤ 12 years had been carried out to profile the background, identifying the sources, determining the probability, determining the extent of the severity and the risk of chemical poisoning. Medical records of patients admitted from 2007 to 2011 were reviewed. Data was entered and analyzed using Statistical Program for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0. The records showed a total of 192 poisoning cases and 41 chemical poisoning cases involving children occurred during five years period. Cases involving males (61%) outnumbered the females (39%). The most vulnerable age group included children in 0-2 years old (68.3%) with the majority being Malays (97.6%). Most of the incidence happened in the evening (1800-2359) hours (46.3%) and in most cases (61%), children were brought to the hospital within their conscious state. Vomiting was the most common symptoms observed (34.1%). All of the patients fully recovered after the treatment. Among the category of sources, cleaning agents (39%) and fuel (31.7%) were the commonest poisoning seen with household bleach and kerosene as the main agents. Chemical poisoning had accounted for 40% from the total of children poisoning cases (103) reported in five years period. High incidences of chemical poisoning cases had been reported in 2009 (0.11). Based on PSS score, the severity of majority of the cases showed minor sign and symptoms (87.8%). This study had determined the risk for chemical poisoning cases among children ≤ 12 years admitted to HUSM within five years period. The overall risk of chemical poisoning was low for each category of sources.