Drug Misuse Among Pediatric Patients: Encounters in the Prehospital Field.

Autor:	Cecil AK; Department of Emergency Medicine, Duke University., Cyr JM; Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., Ahmad H; Mountain Area Health Education Center, Asheville, NC., Strain A; Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., Requarth AB; School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill., Brice JH; Department of Emergency Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Jazyk:	angličtina
Zdroj:	North Carolina medical journal [N C Med J] 2024 Aug; Vol. 85 (5), pp. 343-349.
DOI:	10.18043/001c.121367
Abstrakt:	Background: Few data describing prehospital pediatric substance misuse exist. The objective of this study was to characterize substance misuse in North Carolina pediatric patients receiving emergency medical services (EMS) care. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of patients aged < 16 years transported by EMS for substance misuse. Data were obtained from a statewide repository including patients treated for confirmed or suspected misuse of marijuana, alcohol, benzodiazepines, opioids, stimulants, acetaminophen, antidepressants, or other drugs. Results: Of 45,855 EMS encounters, 448 patients misused drugs. Most patients were female (56.7%), White (50.9%), adolescent (73.8%), and resided in Central North Carolina (54.0%). A plurality of cases was rural (46.2%), followed by urban (27.9%) and regional city/suburban counties (25.7%). Calls most often originated in residential locations (68.5%). Drugs identified during EMS calls included alcohol (24.2%), marijuana (24.2%), benzodiazepines (8.8%), antidepressants (8.8%), stimulants (6.8%), opioids (5.9%), and other medications (17.6%). Motivations for drug use were recreational (58.4%), self-harm (24.6%), and accidental (17.0%). Limitations: Due to insufficient data documentation, one EMS system was removed from analysis. Additionally, misclassification of type of drug or intention of drug use is possible due to the use of free-text patient narratives. Conclusions: EMS responded to a vast variety of drug misuse among pediatric patients including prescription medications, alcohol, marijuana, and illicit drugs. Accidental ingestions occurred exclusively in infant/preschool ages and intent for recreation or self-harm primarily occurred in adolescents. By increasing awareness of the more common pediatric patient characteristics associated with the type and reason for drug use, EMS agencies can improve pediatric readiness among prehospital clinicians. Competing Interests: Acknowledgments: The research team would like to acknowledge the contributions of Rawaa Al-Rifaie to the data acquisition process. Declaration of interests: The authors report there are no competing interests to declare. (Copyright ©2024 by the North Carolina Institute of Medicine and The Duke Endowment. All rights reserved.)
Databáze:	MEDLINE
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