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Epidemiology in childhood poisoning: implications in prevention planning.

"Epidemiology is the study of the distribution of pathologic situations and disability in human populations and of factors which influence that distribution, Epidemiological studies have, in general, three purposes: (1) to reveal etiological factors which may permit the modification or control of toxic situations, (2) to guide the development of poison services, and (3) to provide a method of measuring the effectiveness of services and to allow their evaluation" (W.H.O.). It is striking how this applies to the relatively new concerns of poison control centers: prevention, health education, and improvement of services. Unfortunately, epidemiology is not used in toxicology to its full potential, possibly because the technical means of collection of statistics is fairly expensive. Nevertheless, a trend now exists to work out some studies, and in some centers many impediments have already been overcome. One area already widely studied is poisoning in children. Such interest is well motivated as throughout the world children are prime victims of poisonings. Common characteristics are the prevalence of drugs in relation to other groups of substances and the fact that most accidents occur in the home. However, localities do have their own particularities, and it is essential that these are known in order to initiate effective prevention and to understand the actual causes of morbidity and mortality.