This presentation is part of: Poster Session - Public Health; Methodological Advances
GIS MAPPING TO MAPPING TO LOCATE ADHD-STIMULANT RISKS
Renee F Robinson, PharmD, MPH1, John R Hayes, PhD2, S David Baker, PharmD3, Marcel Casavant, MD4, and John D Mahan, MD1. (1) The Ohio State University, Pediatrics, Mount Gilead, OH, (2) Childrens Research Institute, Research, Columbus, OH, (3) Children's Hospital, Central Ohio Poison Control Center, Columbus, OH, (4) Children's Hospital, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Columbus, OH
Purpose: As the therapeutic use of a medication increases, risk of unintentional overdose, medication errors and intentional overdose increases. The objective of this study is to identify the characteristic geographic areas where exposures to stimulant medications used in the treatment of attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders (ADHD) are prevalent. Methods: All calls to the Regional Poison Control Center (RPCC) from 1999 to 2001 were logged into a computer database, and non-ADHD stimulant callers were used to control for penetrance of RPCC services in the area. Patient demographics, the nature of the call, site of exposure, clinical presentation and treatments received were documented. Patient zip codes were used to identify county of the caller, county classification was based on standard criteria (Department of Health) and 2000 census data was used to estimate the socioeconomic parameters of the population. Geographic mapping (MaptitudeŽ) was used to identify the populations at greatest risk (e.g., age, gender, geographic location) and to estimate the number of children in the community at risk based on age and published prevalence of ADHD in the United States. Results: All calls (n=131,199), exposures (e.g., ingestion, inhalation, dermal contact) (n=116,898) and information calls (n=14,301) reported to the RPCC were used in the analysis. Controlling for the total number of calls and population ADHD exposure calls were greatest in the largest urban county. Other large metropolitan areas, with populations greater than 50,000, were more likely to report ADHD stimulant exposures. Conclusion: Through the combination of incident reporting and medical mapping, communities most in need of interventional programs to decrease the number of intentional and unintentional ADHD stimulant medication exposures may be identified.
