Children and adolescents with acute alcohol intoxication/self-poisoning presenting to the emergency department

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To describe the presentations, characteristics, and follow-up care of children and adolescents aged 10 to 18 years who present to emergency departments (EDs) with acute alcohol intoxication/self-poisoning. DESIGN: Retrospective medical record review. SETTING: Five EDs in Western Sydney, Australia. PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 10 to 18 years who presented to EDs with acute alcohol intoxication/self-poisoning between January 1, 1996, and December 31, 2000. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Frequency of presentations; presentation characteristics; psychosocial characteristics; and presence or absence of follow-up. RESULTS: Two hundred twelve children and adolescents presented to EDs 216 times. O..