Alcohol intoxication in pediatric age: ten-year retrospective study

To examine the changes in the number of children younger than 18 who were hospitalized due to alcohol intoxication at the Department of Pediatrics, University Hospital of Split, from November 1, 1997 to October 31, 2007.

Data on children hospitalized due to intoxication were retrieved from hospital medical records. Children were classified into 4 age groups: 0-5, 6-9, 10-13, and 14-18 years, and their sex and type of intoxication were recorded. For children with alcohol intoxication, data on time of intoxication, reason for drinking, presence of injuries or suspected suicide attempts, and possible presence of other drugs in the organism were collected.

Out of 29 506 hospitalized children, 594 were hospitalized due to intoxications. Out of these, 239 (40.2%) were hospitalized due to intoxication by alcohol. More boys than girls were hospitalized (71.1%). The proportion of alcohol intoxication cases among all types of intoxication cases increased from 16.7% in 1997/98 to 66.3% in 2006/07. The proportion of patients hospitalized due to alcohol intoxication increased from 0.3% of all hospitalized children in the first year to 1.7% in the last year of the study (P = 0.015, z test for comparison of two proportions). Eighty two per cent of cases alcohol intoxication were in the 14-18 age-group. The number of alcohol intoxication cases increased among girls from 1 case (6.3% of all intoxication cases among girls) in 1997/98 to 15 cases (45.5%) in 2006/07, while among boys it increased from 6 cases (23.1% of all intoxicated boys) in 1997/98 to 44 cases (78.6%) in 2006/07. Children usually drank outside their homes (79.4%) and mostly on weekends and holidays (73.2%).

The alarming increase in the number of hospitalizations due to alcohol intoxication in children, especially among girls and in the adolescent age group, represents a serious problem, which requires further attention and research.