Parent and Caregiver Compliance with Poison Center Advice

Abstract

Background: The purpose of this study was to assess the compliance of parents and caregivers whose children (under 6 years of age) accidentally ingested antihistamines, decongestants, or both. Methods: We used a prospective-descriptive study design and developed a convenience sample from eligible calls retrieved from the records from January 19, 1999 to February 28, 1999. Poison control specialists categorized the children into two groups: toxic and needing treatment in a hospital or nontoxic and not needing treatment at a hospital. Compliance with Poison Control Center advice was measured by follow-up telephone calls made by a research assistant within 7 days of the initial call. Results: One hundred forty-seven calls were retrieved and followed. One hundred and seven (72.8%) callers had been advised that no treatment was needed. One hundred (93.4%) of these 107 followed Poison Control Centre advice. Forty (27.2%) of the 147 callers were advised to take their child to an emergency department. Thirty-nine (97.5%) of these 40 complied with the advice. There was no statistically significant difference in compliance rates between the two groups (χ² = 0.306, df = 1, p = 0.58). Discussion and Conclusions: In this group of callers, compliance was high. Reasons for noncompliance included caregiver anxiety, specifically the need for a second opinion. Future studies are needed to determine the level of compliance more definitively. Studies should include subjects from other age groups, other exposures, and other types of callers.