Product Information and Case Documentation Systems in Poison Centres - Results from a European-wide Questionnaire Survey (DeNaMic)
2009
Heiland A | Heinemeyer,G. | Wyke S | Tempowski,J. | Desel,H. | Pelclova D | Mathieu-Nolf M | Edwards N. | Coleman G
German. To compare the tools, terminologies and systems used by poisons centres' (PCs) to record information about exposures to chemical consumer products,to compare the information collected when documenting enquiries, and to assess the extent to which PCs collect information that is useful for industry and risk management. This study was carried out as part of Subcomponent3 of the research project 'Description of the Nature of Accidental Misuse of Chemicals and Chemical Products (DeNaMiC). Methods: A questionnaire was sent to European PCs and other institutions. The questionnaire was structured in six parts: Contact data; General information (tasks, customers and workload in terms of poisons enquiries); Documentation system (Documentation and further processing); Product information (sources, updates, handling); Documented cases (kind of information); Toxicovigilance Activity. Results: 26 replies were received from PCs and hospitals that give poisons advice in 19 countries. The product/chemical information system and the case documentation depend on national regulations and number and type of enquiries.Self-created, electronic databases for case records and for product information are common in European PCs even when product databases are provided by a governmental agency. PCs collect the same basic data set about cases(patient data, amount and physical state of chemical, exposure route). The circumstances of poisoning (location, use/ storage by the consumer, efficiency of Risk Management Measures (RMMs)) are not documented routinely in allPCs. A number of PCs use the INTOX definition to classify the "circumstances of exposure". Conclusion: To gather Europe-wide data about poisonings e.g. for root cause analysis, to check the efficiency of RMMs, PCs needsupport from industry to maintain their knowledge about products. The classification of products needs improvement and harmonisation. Case documentation would need to be expanded to include some exposure factors, usingstandardised terminology.
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