An estimation of the annual incidence of poisoning using automated telephone polling

An automated telephone poll was conducted in Bernalillo County NM during February, 1988. The equipment made 33,458 telephone calls and 2,703 households responded to the eight items included in the poll. The results included a minimum of 810 poisoning incidents in these households in the previous year, giving an annual incidence of poisoning in this population of 108 per 1,000. This rate is considerably higher than previous estimates. Other results included a trend toward delaying poisoning therapy until symptoms developed or taking the poisoned patient directly to an emergency department. If these results are confirmed by conventional polling, poisoning is a major public health problem. Furthermore, confirmation would establish automated telephone polling as a valuable tool for rapidly and inexpensively surveying large populations.