TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2019//
TI  - Demographic and clinical characteristics of hospitalised unintentional poisoning in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal preschool children in New South Wales, Australia: a population data linkage study
JO  - BMJ open
A1  - Lee, Caroline
A1  - Hanly, Mark
A1  - Larter, Natasha
A1  - Zwi, Karen
A1  - Woolfenden, Susan
A1  - Jorm, Louisa
SP  - e022633
EP  - e022633
VL  - 9
IS  - 1
N2  - OBJECTIVES: To investigate differences in demographic and clinical characteristics of Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children aged 0-4 years hospitalised for unintentional poisoning in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. DESIGN AND SETTING: Retrospective whole-of-population cohort analysis of linked hospital and mortality data for 2000-2014. PARTICIPANTS: All children (Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal) under the age of 5 years who were born in a hospital in NSW from 2000 to 2009. OUTCOMES: The primary outcome was hospitalisation for unintentional poisoning. Logistic regression was used to estimate odds of poisoning hospitalisation for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children. Poisoning agents and clinical outcomes were compared by Aboriginality. <br><br>RESULTS: The cohort included 767 119 children, including 28 528 (3.7%) Aboriginal children. Aboriginal children had approximately three times higher rates of hospitalised poisoning (1.34%) compared with non-Aboriginal children (0.41%). Poisoning incidence peaked at 2-3 years of age. Male sex, socioeconomic disadvantage and geographical remoteness were associated with higher odds of poisoning hospitalisation for Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children, but associations with disadvantage and remoteness were statistically significant only for non-Aboriginal children. Most (83%) poisonings were caused by pharmaceutical agents. Few Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children had repeat admissions for poisoning; most had a length of stay of 1 day or less. Only 8% of poisoning admissions involved contact with a social worker. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Commonly used medications in the general population contribute to poisonings among both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal preschool-aged children. This study highlights a need to develop culturally safe poisoning prevention strategies and policies.<br><br>© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2019. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 2044-6055
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022633
ID  - ref1
ER  -