RESUMO
Background: Poisoning is an injury caused by a xenobiotic ora substance exogenous to the human body, which may lead tocell damage or death. It can enter the body through respiratory,gastrointestinal or skin routes, leading to acute or chronicproblems according to dose and time. The present study aimsto examine the risk factors of poisoning of preschool (0-4)years old in Saudi Arabia and to analyze the role of the parentsand the characteristics of the house and the environment inthese accidents.Materials and Methods: The present case-controlled studywere conducted in the Institute, State during one year. Allpreschool children (0-4) years involved reported as householdpoisoning cases in the poisoning department under the publichealth administration in Jeddah city during the years 2014-2016. Socio-demographic variables, e.g., interviewer relation toa child, parents' characteristics such as age, sex, nationality,education, occupation, marital status, number of children, etc.were recorded. Characteristic of the residence of thehousehold such as a type of house, ownership, number ofrooms, number of family and siblings, etc. were noted. All thedata were arranged in a tabulated form and analyzed usingSPSS software.Results: The age of the studied groups of cases and controlschildren ranged from zero to 48 months, with the mostcommonly affected group was (13 to 24 months) whichoccupied 40.9 % of cases, while occupied 29.8% of controls.Besides, the mean age of cases was nearly double the meanage of controls (43.42 ± 16.084 and 16.37±11.535respectively) so, there was a statistically significant difference(P<0.05) between cases and controls according to age groupand mean of age. In 88.3 % of cases, the poisoning material isaccessible to children and place from where the child caneasily access the substance. The oral root of the poisoningsubstance occurred among of the cases 69% while only 49%of the cases had gastrointestinal manifestations. 72.5% of thecases were stable when they arrived at the hospital. 84.8% offamilies did not have a history of any health education aboutpoisoning before the accident.Conclusion: The tender’s age was children aged 0 to 12months. Data revealed significant results about the first baby,Saudi, male child, married mother, father had primaryeducation, a mother with secondary education, housewifemothers, owner house; and large family size. Oral, powderedform poisoning accounted for highest incidences.