Syrup of ipecac awareness: the use of a survey to direct future education efforts

Syrup of ipecac awareness has been a major educational endeavor of our poison center for nearly 15 years. Educational efforts have been widespread and not directed specifically at any demographic population. A telephone survey was developed to determine our effectiveness in creating awareness and to identify demographic trends which would direct our future efforts. Respondents were randomly selected from the metropolitan telephone directory. Four hundred surveys were completed. The data was analyzed for statistical significance using chi square. The demographic background of the respondents compared favorably with that published by the Census Bureau. Fifty and six tenths percent were aware of syrup of ipecac. Age groups between 30-59 were more aware of ipecac than younger or older groups. Females were more aware of ipecac than males (37% vs 2%). There was a direct relationship between the number of years of education and ipecac awareness (college 62%, high school 49%, non-high school 37%). Married and divorced respondents had a higher awareness than single individuals (56% vs 38%). Respondents with working spouses had greater awareness than those with unemployed spouses (65% vs 43%). Twenty-four percent claimed to have ipecac in their home at the time of the survey. This provides significant insight for future direction with our educational efforts.