Table 1.
Characteristics of exposure calls received by the Poison Control Center of Policlinico Umberto I Hospital-Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, in 2020 vs 2019 (9th March–31st May).
| Lockdown (2020) | Reference (2019) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| n (%) | n (%) | p | |
| All cases | 366 | 408 | |
| Caller site | < .001 | ||
| PVa | 308 (84.0)* | 251 (61.5) | |
| H/EDb | 58 (16.0)* | 157 (38.5) | |
| Age group (years) | .363 | ||
| ≤ 6 | 112 (30.7) | 121 (29.7) | |
| 7–18 | 21 (5.5) | 32 (7.8) | |
| ≥ 19 | 233 (63.8) | 255 (62.5) | |
| Site of exposure | .287 | ||
| Home | 327 (89.3) | 349 (85.5) | |
| Public and open spaces | 25 (6.9) | 37 (9.1) | |
| Workplace and community | 14 (3.8) | 22 (5.4) | |
| Agent category | < .001 | ||
| Medications | 68 (18.7)* | 161 (39.5) | |
| Household and cleaning products | 131 (35.9)* | 109 (26.7) | |
| Pesticides | 22 (6.0)* | 9 (2.2) | |
| Solvents and fuels | 20 (5.4) | 24 (5.9) | |
| Substances of abuse | 4 (1.1) | 4 (1.0) | |
| Food | 14 (3.8) | 19 (4.7) | |
| Mushrooms and plants | 13 (3.7) | 10 (2.4) | |
| Animal bites and stings | 30 (8.1) | 23 (5.6) | |
| HMPc and CAMd | 15 (4.1) | 9 (2.2) | |
| Other toxic products | 15 (4.0) | 11 (2.7) | |
| Non-toxic products | 34 (9.2) | 29 (7.1) | |
| Reason of exposure | < .001 | ||
| Unintentional | 280 (76.4)* | 233 (57.1) | |
| Intentional | 39 (10.7)* | 74 (18.1) | |
| Adverse reactions | 3 (0.8) | 8 (2.0) | |
| Administration error | 42 (11.5)* | 87 (21.3) | |
| Unknown | 2 (0.6) | 6 (1.5) | |
| Route of exposure | .185 | ||
| Ingestion | 228 (62.3) | 291 (71.3) | |
| Inhalation | 50 (13.7) | 39 (9.6) | |
| Inoculation | 14 (3.8) | 14 (3.4) | |
| Bites | 19 (5.2) | 10 (2.5) | |
| Dermal | 18 (4.9) | 16 (3.9) | |
| Oral mucosa | 22 (6.0) | 22 (5.4) | |
| Ocular | 12 (3.3) | 9 (2.2) | |
| Other and unknown | 3 (0.8) | 7 (1.7) |
*z-test with Bonferroni correction (p < .05)
aPV private citizens
bH/ED hospitals and emergency department
cHMP herbal medicinal products
dCAM complementary and alternative medicine