Most Caregivers Of Young Children Lack Basic Knowledge Of Potentially Toxic Household Products

Main Category: Caregivers / Homecare
Also Included In: Pediatrics / Children's Health;  Public Health
Article Date: 02 Jun 2008 - 3:00 PST

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According to a new study, knowledge of potentially toxic household substances among primary caregivers for young children is alarmingly poor. The results show that less than one-third of primary caregivers for children under the age of six could correctly estimate the toxicity of household poisons. The study was presented at the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine's 2008 Annual Meeting.

Led by Rika N. O'Malley, M.D of the Albert Einstein Medical Center, the study involved screening primary caregivers of young children who visited emergency departments, and asked participants to identify toxic items from a list of common household products.

"Young children are at risk of household chemical ingestion and their caretakers often do not have good understanding how toxic those chemicals are," says O'Malley. "Parental education needs to be focused more on younger caretakers with more children."

However, the study did identify a number of factors that increased the likelihood of knowledge of household poisons. These include: more education, responsibility for fewer children and an age greater than twenty-three years.

The research provides practical information about poison prevention. The authors believe that education from primary care physicians can target at-risk populations for poison prevention and education.

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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The presentation is entitled "Caregivers of Young Children Do Not Have Basic Knowledge or Familiarity with Potentially Toxic Household Products." Abstracts of the papers presented are published in Vol. 15, No. 5, Supplement 1, May 2008 of the official journal of the SAEM, Academic Emergency Medicine.

About The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (http://www.saem.org/)

The Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) is a national non-profit organization of over 6,000 academic emergency physicians, emergency medicine residents and medical students. SAEM's mission is to improve patient care by advancing research and education in emergency medicine. SAEM's vision is to promote ready access to quality emergency care for all patients, to advance emergency medicine as an academic and clinical discipline, and to maintain the highest professional standards as clinicians, teachers, and researchers. The SAEM Annual Meeting attracts approximately 2,000 medical students, residents and academic emergency physicians. It provides the largest forum for the presentation of original research in the specialty of Emergency Medicine.

About Academic Emergency Medicine (http://www.aemj.org/)

AEM is a peer-reviewed journal whose goal is to advance the science, education, and clinical practice of emergency medicine, to serve as a voice for the academic emergency medicine community, and to enhance the goals and objectives of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM). Members and non-members worldwide depend on this journal for translational medicine relevant to emergency medicine, in addition to clinical news, case studies and more.

About Wiley-Blackwell

Wiley-Blackwell was formed in February 2007 as a result of the acquisition of Blackwell Publishing Ltd. by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., and its merger with Wiley's Scientific, Technical, and Medical business. Together, the companies have created a global publishing business with deep strength in every major academic and professional field. Wiley-Blackwell publishes approximately 1,400 scholarly peer-reviewed journals and an extensive collection of books with global appeal. For more information on Wiley-Blackwell, please visit http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/ or http://interscience.wiley.com/

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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Source: Sean Wagner
Wiley-Blackwell