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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Children and Health
Volume 13 - 2025 |
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1510205
This article is part of the Research Topic Emerging Contaminants in Children: Exposure, Sources, and Health Effects View all articles
Analysis of acute non-pharmaceutical toxic exposures in children: a 5-year retrospective study
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Critical Care Medicine, Children's Hospital of Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
- 2 Institute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China
- 3 Institute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
Objective: This study aims to systematically analyze the epidemiological characteristics, clinical interventions and outcomes of children with acute non-pharmaceutical toxic exposures. Methods: This retrospective study included all children with acute non-pharmaceutical toxic exposure admitted to the emergency department of the Capital Institute of Pediatrics between January 1, 2019, and December 31, 2023. Eligible patients were triaged into red, yellow, and green groups according to their severity condition. Clinical information including demographics, exposure details, clinical manifestation, laboratory results, treatments, and outcomes were extracted from electronic medical records. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify risk factors associated with hospitalization. Results: Overall, a total of 718 patients with acute non-pharmaceutical toxic exposures was included in this study, infants and toddlers accounting for 57.9%. The male-to-female ratio was 1.16:1. The majority exposure events occurred at home (89.3%) and in urban settings (78.4%). Accidental poisoning was the predominant cause, accounting for 94.7%, and the primary route of exposure was oral (93.6%). Mercury was the most common exposed substance, representing 18.8% of cases, particularly among preschool-aged children (31.7%). Patients triaged to red zone had a higher proportion of clinical manifestation and required more aggressive treatments. Although most patients discharged without treatment (78.4%), 19.1% need emergency observation, and 2.5% required hospitalization. Logistic regression analysis showed that corrosive household products exposure (OR=42.747, 95% CI[5.041-362.520]), skin and mucosal damage (OR=37.052, 95% CI[5.339-257.153]), pesticides exposure (OR=33.322, 95% CI[3.863-287.423]), heavy metals exposure (OR=31.636, 95% CI[1.471-680.210]), neurological manifestation (OR=22.656, 95% CI[4.766-107.711]), positive toxicology results (OR=15.105, 95% CI[6.584-34.656]), industrial products exposure (OR=10.294, 95% CI[1.144-92.641]), and intentional poisoning (OR=3.060, 95% CI[1.733-5.405]) associated with hospitalization. Conclusion: Pediatric patients exposed to some specific toxicants like industrial products and corrosive household products might associated with a higher risk of severe clinical outcomes. Advocating for enhanced safety regulations or educations and public health initiatives to mitigate the incidence of such exposures is still important for protecting children's health.
Keywords: Acute non-pharmaceutical toxic exposure, Children, Poisoning, Characteristics, outcomes
Received: 12 Oct 2024; Accepted: 13 Jan 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Qu, Tang, Duan, Sheng, Wang, Liu, Li, Guo, Guo and Zheng. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhuyan Duan, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Children's Hospital of Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, 100005, Beijing Municipality, China
Mengyi Sheng, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Children's Hospital of Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, 100005, Beijing Municipality, China
Hui Wang, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Children's Hospital of Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, 100005, Beijing Municipality, China
Jiao Li, Institute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100020, Beijing Municipality, China
Linlin Guo, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Children's Hospital of Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, 100005, Beijing Municipality, China
Linying Guo, Department of Critical Care Medicine, Children's Hospital of Capital Institute of Pediatrics, Beijing, 100005, Beijing Municipality, China
Si Zheng, Institute of Medical Information, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100020, Beijing Municipality, China
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