Abstract

Objective: This study aims to investigate whether there is any association between the types of poison substances and geographic locations for different age groups and sex.

Design: This is a population based epidemiological study utilising routinely collected inpatient statistics.

Setting: Data are collected as part of the routine vital health information system via all hospitals in New South Wales (NSW), Australia.

Patients: All patients aged between 0–19 years who were admitted to a hospital because of poisoning by the four major types of substances that were defined in the study in NSW in 2000.

Main results: The standardised incidence ratios of poisoning related hospitalisation between metropolitan and rural areas varied across different poison types when compared with the NSW average. While there are few differences between metropolitan and rural areas for analgesic and chemical related poisoning admissions across different age groups and sex, differences in the standardised incidence ratios between geographic locations for psychotropic and venom related poisoning admissions were found. No significant difference in standardised mortality ratios were found between metropolitan and rural areas except for females in the 10–14 years age group (standardised mortality ratio 3.24, 95% confidence interval 1.69 to 6.21).

Conclusions: The results obtained in this study, on the whole, provide some evidence for an association between poison types and geographic locations for psychotropic and venom related poisoning.