J Korean Soc Clin Toxicol.  2021 Jun;19(1):1-7. 10.22537/jksct.2021.19.1.1.

Systematic review for economic benefit of poison control center

• Han E
• Hwang H
• Yu G
• Ko DR
• Kong T
• You JS
• Choa M
• Chung SP

• KMID: 2525856
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.22537/jksct.2021.19.1.1

Abstract

Purpose
The purpose of this study was to conduct a systematic review to investigate the socio-economic benefits of the poison control center (PCC) and to assess whether telephone counseling at the poison control center affects the frequency of emergency room visits, hospitalization, and length of stay of patients with acute poisoning.
Methods
The authors conducted a medical literature search of the PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Library databases. Two reviewers evaluated the abstracts for eligibility, extracted the data, and assessed the study quality using a standardized tool. Key results such as the cost-benefit ratio, hospital stay days, unnecessary emergency room visits or hospitalizations, and reduced hospital charges were extracted from the studies. When meta-analysis was possible, it was performed using RevMan software (RevMan version 5.4).
Results
Among 299 non-duplicated studies, 19 were relevant to the study questions. The cost-benefit ratios of PCC showed a wide range from 0.76 to 36 (average 6.8) according to the level of the medical expense of each country and whether the study included intentional poisoning. PCC reduced unnecessary visits to healthcare facilities. PCC consultation shortened the length of hospital stay by 1.82 (95% CI, 1.07-2.57) days.
Conclusion
The systematic review and meta-analysis support the hypothesis that the PCC operation is cost-beneficial. However, when implementing the PCC concept in Korea in the future, it is necessary to prepare an institutional framework to ensure a costeffective model.

Keyword

Poison Control Center; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Length of Stay; Systematic Review