Retrospective assessment of acute poisoning incidents by nonpharmaceutical agents in Jordan: Data from Pharmacy One™ Poison Call Center, 2014 to 2018—Part I

Abstract

The Pharmacy One™ Poising Call Center (P 1 PCC), located in Amman, Jordan, was created to address deficiencies identified by the pharmacy service, including in the management of poisoning cases. The aims of this study were to analyze the patterns of poisoning cases reported to the P 1 PCC and to describe the role of the P 1 PCC pharmacist in ensuring preparedness and managing the response to poisoning cases. In addition, the information from these interventions was used to survey human poisoning in Jordan. This is a retrospective descriptive study of acute poisoning incidents in the Jordanian population, as recorded by the P 1 PCC during the period 2014-2018.Inquiries received by the P 1 PCC were recorded on a predesigned form. The year, patient demographics, toxic agent involved, and circumstances of the poisoning event were all fully documented utilizing Oracle and Excel spreadsheets. A total of 1992 poisoning incidents were reported to the P1PCC, predominately (68.59%) via 911 phone calls. Reports were predominantly from males (1.67:1). Children were the second most common age group after adolescents (22.62% and 42.49%, respectively). The most frequent causative nonpharmaceutical agents were household products (17%) in preschool children and animal bites (20%) in adolescents. Most of the poisoning incidents (74.63%) occurred at home. Unintentional poisoning (54.12%), with mild medical outcomes (61.45%), accounted for most of the poisoning incidents caused by exposure to household products. These data may represent the most recent picture of poisoning incidents in Jordan. Emergency medical services were provided by experienced pharmacy practitioners at the P 1 PCC, to respond to emergency needs in the community in a professional manner. Therefore, the need for unnecessary hospitalization and the cost of ambulance dispatch were minimized, which are highly valuable outcomes. K E Y W O R D SJordan, pharmacist, Pharmacy One™, poison control center

Frequency and Management of Acute Poisoning Among Children Attending an Emergency Department in Saudi Arabia

“…In the literature, most incidences of poisoning occurred at home supporting our study’s finding of 92.8% [ 1 , 3 , 13 , 15 , 17 , 21 , 24 , 29 ]. Unintentional poisoning accounted for most incidents in this study (56.5%) while intentional self-poisoning was reported in five incidents.…”

“…Most incidents were in boys which is consistent with other recent studies [ 27 , 28 ]. Although there have been no comprehensive epidemiological studies of the incidence of poisoning in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to date, studies published for different Gulf regions and time periods also indicate that children 4 or 5 years and younger are most often affected; similar results were reported in studies worldwide [ 1 , 7 , 9 , 11 , 14 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 ]. The literature notes that the balance switches in adolescents when girls were more likely to attend hospital emergency departments with intentional poisoning [ 1 , 15 ].…”

“…Studies by Berta et al (2020) in Northern Italy [ 7 ], Patel et al (2017) in the United States [ 8 ], Ahmed et al (2015) in Qatar, [ 9 ], Mintegi et al (2006) in Spain [ 10 ], Hoy et al (1999), Reith et al (2001), Schmertmann (2013) and Lee et al (2019) in Australia [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ], Mutlu et al (2010) in Turkey [ 15 ], Azab et al (2016) in Egypt [ 16 ], Sharif et al (2003) in Ireland [ 17 ], Tobaiqy et al (2010) in Scotland [ 18 ], Christophersen (2002) in Denmark [ 19 ], Dayasiri (2017 and 2020) in Sri Lanka [ 20 , 21 ], Mohammadi et al (2020) in Iran [ 22 ], Yehya et al (2020) and Albals et al (2020) in Jordan [ 23 , 24 ] and Ham et al (2020) in Korea [ 25 ] demonstrate the global nature and breadth of research of the problem of acute poisoning. The most frequent source of poisoning varies from country to country depending on social, economic, cultural, and educational background [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. In developed countries, the most toxic substances are medicines and household cleaning products; developing countries more frequently see kerosene and pesticides causing acute p...…”

“…The most frequent source of poisoning varies from country to country depending on social, economic, cultural, and educational background [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. In developed countries, the most toxic substances are medicines and household cleaning products; developing countries more frequently see kerosene and pesticides causing acute poisoning in children [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ].…”

The use of cleaning products and its relationship with the increasing health risks during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…In studies conducted in different regions before the pandemic period, the frequency of problems associated with cleaning products varied between 13.2% and 27%. 16 , 17 , 18 In the study conducted by the CDC throughout the USA during the COVID‐19 pandemic period, one fourth of the participants reported at least one problem related to the use of cleaners and/or disinfectants; the problems were related to skin, eye, nose and sinus irritation, dizziness, headache, nausea and respiratory distress. 12 In another report of the CDC, it was stated that there were serious increases in the calls to National Poison Information Centers, which were related to the use of cleaners and/or disinfectants (118%) and bleach (62.1%) that might be associated with the increasing and risky use of cleaning/disinfection products during the pandemic period.…”