• Sarah F Schillie, Nadine Shehab, Karen E Thomas, and Daniel S Budnitz.
• Epidemic Intelligence Service, Office of Workforce and Career Development, CDC, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.
• Am J Prev Med. 2009 Sep 1; 37 (3): 181-7.

BackgroundThe high prevalence of medication use increases the potential for medication overdoses, especially among children.PurposeThis paper describes the burden of unintentional pediatric medication overdoses in order to target new prevention efforts.MethodsData were analyzed in 2007 and 2008 from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, collected January 1, 2004, through December 31, 2005, to estimate the number of emergency department visits resulting from unintentional medication overdoses among children aged ResultsBased on 3034 cases, an estimated 71,224 emergency department visits for medication overdoses were made annually by children aged ConclusionsMedication overdoses among children, notably unsupervised ingestions, represent a substantial burden in terms of emergency department visits and hospitalizations. New efforts to prevent pediatric medication overdoses are needed.

18 keywords...

hide…