Comparison of large and small child-resistant containers

Two studies, a 13-month prospective survey and a clinical trial, were conducted to evaluate how children less than 5 years of age opened children's aspirin (small container) and chewable multi-vitamin (large container) bottles. In study one, teeth were used to open a closed children's aspirin container in greater than 50% of reported exposures compared to 5% for reported multivitamin exposures. A clinical trial (study two) revealed an interaction between the child's age and the characteristics of the container (F = 2.83, df = 6,28; P less than 0.05). Larger containers were harder to open in the hands of a 23-28 month old child while smaller containers were harder to open in the 32-38 month age group. Neither container were more easily opened by children between 29 and 31 months of age. These results suggest that container characteristics and a child's age are both variables which may influence future poison prevention activities.