Alcohol Intoxication in Pediatric Age: Ten-year Retrospective Study

Abstract

Methods Data on children hospitalized due to intoxication were retrieved from hospital medical records. Children were classified into 4 age groups: 0-5, 6-9, 10-13, and 14-18 years, and their sex and type of intoxication were recorded. For children with alcohol intoxication, data on time of intoxication, reason for drinking, presence of injuries or suspected suicide attempts, and possible presence of other drugs in the organism were collected.Results Out of 29 506 hospitalized children, 594 were hospitalized due to intoxications. Out of these, 239 (40.2%) were hospitalized due to intoxication by alcohol. More boys than girls were hospitalized (71.1%). The proportion of alcohol intoxication cases among all types of intoxication cases increased from 16.7% in 1997/98 to 66.3% in 2006/07. The proportion of patients hospitalized due to alcohol intoxication increased from 0.3% of all hospitalized children in the first year to 1.7% in the last year of the study (P = 0.015, z test for comparison of two proportions). Eighty two per cent of alcohol intoxication cases were in the 14-18 age-group. The number of alcohol intoxication cases increased among girls from 1 case (6.3% of all intoxication cases among girls) in 1997/98 to 15 cases (45.5%) in 2006/07, while among boys it increased from 6 cases (23.1% of all intoxicated boys) in 1997/98 to 44 cases (78.6%) in 2006/07. Children usually drank outside their homes (79.4%) and mostly on weekends and holidays (73.2%). ConclusionThe alarming increase in the number of hospitalizations due to alcohol intoxication in children, especially among girls and in the adolescent age group, represents a serious problem, which requires further attention and research. Clinical intoxication is a condition characterized by sudden or gradual threat to one or more organic systems due to contact with poison (1). Acute intoxications are often urgent situations that require a specific medical procedure. The first signs of acute alcohol intoxication in terms of behavior changes appear when the concentration of ethanol in serum reaches approximately 0.5‰ (1). When the concentration rises to 2.5‰, mydriasis, diplopia, ataxia, hypothermia, nausea, and vomiting appear (1). Concentration over 4.5‰ can lead to disorders of consciousness (sopor to coma), as well as to death due to respiratory insufficiency. Hypothermia often coexists with the described symptoms (1). The development of chronic alcoholism in adults lasts 5-10 years (2). Therefore, the term "alcoholism" cannot be applied to children, but we rather use the term "problems with alcohol. " The term includes all children who have social, psychological, or legal problems due to acute intoxication or regular excessive alcohol abuse or dependence (2).Alcohol intoxication is a growing phenomenon all over the world, which develops independently of the political, economical, social, and health care situation in the country. Thus, alcoholism is a serious problem in many countries, such as the United States (3-6), Scandinavian countries (7,8), Switzerla...

An Emergency Service Diagnosis in Childhood with an Increasing Trend Within Time: Alcohol Poisoning

“…1 Çocukluk çağında alkol zehirlenmelerinin epidemiyolojisini gösteren ça-lışma sayısı da azdır. 2,[11][12][13] Genellikle alkol ve neden olduğu psikososyal sorunlar üzerine yapılan çalış-malar literatürde bulunmaktadır. Bizim çalışma-mızda acil servisimize başvuran 1871 zehirlenme olgusunun %2,3'ünü alkol zehirlenmeleri oluştur-maktaydı.…”

“…Acil servise başvuru anında olguların GKS ortanca değeri 15 (7)(8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15), ZŞS ortanca değeri 1 (0-3) idi. Sadece 3 (%7,0) olgunun GKS≤8 idi.…”

Study of Acute Alcohol Poisoning in Children Admitted to a Emergency Hospital Pirogov in Sofia, Bulgaria

“…Our study showed the mean age of alcohol poisoned patients (mean ± standard deviation) 14.91 ± 1.45 years. Croatian study by Bitunjac and Saraga [15] found that 73.2% of children were hospitalized on weekends and 79% of children got intoxicated outdide their homes.…”

Adolescents Admitted to In-Patient Treatment with Alcohol Intoxication: Risk and Resilience Factors Associated with Problematic Alcohol Use

“…Analyses of sex differences revealed no statistically significant differences between male and female participants ( 1 Due to small case numbers the last two response categories in all three AUDIT items were collapsed. 2 Refers to participants who reported regular alcohol use. 3 According to DSM-IV.…”

“…In many European, countries the number of adolescents admitted to in-patient treatment with alcohol intoxication (AIA) has dramatically risen over the last 10 years [1][2][3]. In Germany, this figure increased for individuals between the ages of 10 and 20, from 14,105 cases in 2003 to 26,673 in 2012 [4].…”