Prevalence of clinical manifestations of poisoning in children admitted to hospitals of Khorramabad in2011

Background: Poisoning is considered an important public health issue. Considering the high prevalence of poisonings and the diversity of their ensuing symptoms, this study aimed to investigate the epidemiology of the clinical symptoms of poisoning in children admitted to Shahid Madani and Ta'min Ejtema'i hospitals of Khorramabad in 2011. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the data was collected from the records of the children hospitalized with a diagnosis of poisoning in the referral hospitals of Khorramabad in 2011. Collected data was statistically analyzed using SPSS software. Results: Of the 230 hospitalized patients whose age ranged from 30 days to 11 years (with a mean age of 3.1 years ± 2.4), 117 (50.9%) were male and 113 (49.1%) were female. Neurological (43.5%) and gastrointestinal (21.3%) symptoms ranked as the most common clinical symptoms of poisonings. At P<0.01 level of significance, drug abuse (42%) was identified as the most prevalent cause of neurological symptoms, and hydro-carbonic poisonings (40.81%) stood as the most frequent causes of gastrointestinal symptoms. Conclusions: Neurological complications are viewed as one of the main threats to pediatric health and the high incidence of such complications in the sample of poisoned children in this study suggests that the issue of pediatric poisoning needs to be taken into serious consideration. Furthermore, high priority needs to be accorded to the careful training of the personnel of healthcare centers and the correct treatment of the poisonings which result in neurological complications.