Knowledge, Attitude and Practice about Household Poisoning in Saudi Arabia

Background: Food poisoning, household poisoning, and cosmetic poisoning are becoming a very important health problem both worldwide and locally at the level of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The aims of this study was to assess knowledge, attitude and practice about the storage and utilization patterns of household poisoning in Saudi Arabia and assess the adverse and toxic effects that respondents have experienced upon utilizing these products. Also, we attempted to identify risks imposed on the community due to improper storage and exposure to household belongings.

Methods: Cross-sectional survey was designed and distributed electronically in Saudi Arabia. The questionnaire was conducted on 503 Saudi Arabian subjects, aged from 18-70 years old in March, 2015. It included questions regarding demographic characteristics, storage, utilization habits, and adverse effects experienced by respondents upon handling the household products.

Results: It was found that the main reasons of poisoning were the lack of knowledge, the easy access to household product, and the unsafe storage of these products. The majority of accidental events occurred with food products, cleaning agents, cosmetics products and pesticides, respectively. Respondents stored household products in different places in their homes, but most of these storage places were suboptimal and were within reach of children. The majority of cases experienced adverse and toxic effects of cleaning products and pesticide and petroleum distillates were children younger than 6 years of age. While the majority of cases experienced adverse and toxic effects of food poisoning and cosmetics were between 12-18 years and more than 18 respectively. Most of respondents reported mixing of cleaning products. Most of respondents (60.52%) were careless regarding taking safety precautions while dealing with pesticides and petroleum distillates. About 50.83% of respondents ignoring the content of any household product.

Conclusions: Correct utilization and safer storage of household products is encouraged. Several preventive strategies should be implemented in order to decrease the incidence of accidental harmful exposure that is due to cleaning agents. Improving the knowledge and educating the population regarding this type of poisoning will limit the cases of household poisoning among our country.