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. 2019 Jan 30;9(1):e022633.
doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2018-022633.

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

Caroline Lee  1 , Mark Hanly  1 , Natasha Larter  2 , Karen Zwi  2 , Susan Woolfenden  2 , Louisa Jorm  1
Affiliations

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

Caroline Lee et al. BMJ Open. .

Abstract

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.

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.

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.

Keywords: aboriginal; child, preschool; data linkage; poisoning; unintentional injury.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing interests: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Indigenous Health Outcomes Patient Evaluation (IHOPE) data sources and study cohort selection. NSW, New South Wales.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Crude and adjusted ORs with 95% CIs for poisoning hospitalisation, by demographic factors, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children, New South Wales, 2000–2014. aOR, adjusted OR. Fully adjusted models included variables sex, area-level disadvantage and geographical remoteness.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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