Unintentional Poisoning in Young Children: Does Developmental Stage Predict the Type of Substance Accessed and Ingested? | Child: Care, Health, and Development

When children aged 0–4 years are analyzed together as a group for poisoning risk, important differences for smaller age intervals by medicinal and non-medicinal substances are masked. These differences have been attributed to child developmental stages but no studies have been conducted that examine the predictive value of child developmental stage for poisoning by substance type, using 3-month age intervals as a proxy for developmental stage and adjusting for the effect of sex, socio-economic status and remoteness of residence. Children aged 0–4 years differ in their stage of development and as a consequence, vary significantly in their ability to access their environment. Our results clearly show that odds of poisoning by medicinal substances compared with non-medicinal substances change as children age. This study provides evidence that child development predicts the type of substance accessed and ingested.

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• Poison Prevention