Journal of Clinical Toxicology
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0495
ISSN: 2161-0495
Ontario Poison Centre, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Research Article
The Impact of COVID-19 on Calls made to Canadian Poison Centres Regarding Cleaning Products and Disinfectants: A Population Based Retrospective Interrupted Time-Series Study One Year before and after the WHO?s Pandemic Declaration
Author(s): Abdool S Yasseen*, Nina Dobbin, Deborah Weiss, Chunli Gu, Sara Khan, Ashley Rowe, Victoria Wan, Bojana Bogeljic, Dennis Leong, Laurie Mosher, Guillaume Belair, Brooke Button, James Hardy, Shahid Perwaiz, Alysyn Smith, Shawn Lawless, Margaret Thompson and Richard Wootton
Objective: To determine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the rates of exposure calls related to cleaning products and disinfectants made to Canadian poison centers, one year into the pandemic.
Methods: Using data obtained from Canadian poison centers between March 2019 and March 2022 regarding hand sanitizers, disinfectants, bleaches, chlorine gas, and chloramine gas, we applied an interrupted time series design to evaluate changes before and after the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic. Call rates were estimated as the number of cleaning products and disinfectants calls divided by the total number of exposures at monthly time intervals, and changes were assessed at 6 and 12 months after the WHO’s declaration. We additionally conducted a stratified analysis by patient age groups (≤ 19 years a.. View More»
DOI:
10.35248/2161-0495-22.12.501