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Our research

Published works

Current active projects

  • Clinical impact of online triage platforms

  • Characterizing webPOISONCONTROL data

  • Refining triage thresholds with case-based evidence

  • Automating hazard and outlier detection in poison exposure cases

2020 webPOISONCONTROL data summary

American Journal of Emergency Medicine

Increasing use of the internet for health information has decreased utilization of traditional telephone-based poison centers in the United States. webPOISONCONTROL®, a browser-based tool and app was launched to meet the growing demand for online, personalized recommendations for human poison exposures. This study was conducted to characterize webPOISONCONTROL cases and highlight its potential for real-time monitoring of poisoning.

Age distribution (case count by age)

Most cases occurred in children, with 52.9% of cases occurring in children younger than 4 years, 22.4% in 1 year olds and 16.2% in 2 year olds.

Distribution (case count) by age (years) and sex

Children and adolescents, through 19 years of age, comprised 69.1% of cases. Overall, 53.6% of cases occurred in females, with females outnumbering males in all age groups over 12 years.

Age distribution for double-dose therapeutic errors

One-time double dose therapeutic error cases were implicated in 17,901 cases (11.5% of all cases and 27.6% of the 64,781 pharmaceutical cases). In this subset, the age distribution showed a prominent peak in the 20- to 39-year-old demographic.

Utilization of U.S. poison centers compared to webPOISONCONTROL.

Since 2017, as use of webPOISONCONTROL increased, the utilization of traditional poison centers has remained relatively stable.

webPOISONCONTROL: can poison control be automated?

American Journal of Emergency Medicine

Background

A free webPOISONCONTROL app allows the public to determine the appropriate triage of poison ingestions without calling a poison center. If accepted and safe, this alternative expands access to reliable poison exposure guidance to those who prefer the Internet over the telephone. This study assesses feasibility, safety, and user-acceptance of automated online triage of asymptomatic, non-suicidal poison ingestion cases.

Results

Of 9256 cases, 73.3% were triaged to home, 2.1% to an emergency department, and 24.5% directed to call a poison center. Children younger than 6 years were involved in 75.2% of cases. Automated follow-up was done in 31.2% of home-triaged cases; 82.3% of these had no effect. No major or fatal outcomes were reported. More than 91% of survey respondents found the tool quick and easy to use. Median case completion time was 4.1 minutes.

Conclusion

webPOISONCONTROL augments traditional poison center services by providing automated, accurate online access to case-specific triage and first aid guidance for poison ingestions. It is safe, quick, and easy to use.

Current active projects

Stay tuned for our currently active research, including:

  • Clinical impact of online triage platforms

  • Characterizing webPOISONCONTROL data

  • Refining triage thresholds with case-based evidence

  • Automating hazard and outlier detection in poison exposure cases