405 - They Ate What?! A Social Media Analysis to Enhance Prevention Strategies for Accidental Pediatric Poisonings

Publication Number: 405.6575

Kelly A. Pretorius, St. Edward's University, Austin, TX, United States; Doyle Groves, Indiana University School of Nursing, Westfield, IN, United States; Wendy Trueblood Miller, Indiana University School of Nursing, Bedford, IN, United States; Corrie E. Chumpitazi, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States

Background: Accidental pediatric poisonings are a preventable cause of morbidity and mortality among American children. In 2019, there were 1.15 million reported cases of childhood poisonings and unintentional pediatric poisoning deaths surged by 37% in 2021. The opioid epidemic and popularity of edible cannabis have complicated prevention efforts; opioids were responsible for 52% of pediatric poisoning-related deaths in 2018 and cannabis exposure has led to a significant increase in hospitalizations. Given these complexities, social media provides a valuable avenue to gauge public sentiment.

Objective: To analyze social media discussions about accidental pediatric poisonings on X, generating insights to enhance prevention efforts and enable more effective provider-led conversations.

Design/Methods: Data were mined from X to identify posts discussing accidental pediatric poisonings from 2015-2023. Through text mining and topic detection, 68 categories were identified from 781,597 tweets originating from America. After manual review, 11 of the 68 categories- comprising 7,409 messages from 4,780 users- were deemed relevant. These were analyzed via qualitative content analysis.

Results: Several themes emerged, including 1) General Drug Crisis and Accidental Pediatric Ingestions (eg.,“OH MY! A 16-month-old is 'lucky to be alive' after the baby chewed on some baggies that packaged heroin and/or fentanyl”), 2) Parenting Recommendations (eg.,“Pay attention people! Kids are ordering their drugs on social media platforms”), 3) Making Light of Drugs (eg.,“id be hype as hell if someone put edibles in my kids Halloween candy”), and 4) Political Discourse (eg.,“Omg> SICK! Antifa Supporter Brags About Giving MAGA Kids Fentanyl Laced Halloween Candy”). Most categories included tweets related to political discourse. Demographic profiles varied by theme: primarily female and rural users made parenting recommendations, while political discussions mainly came from non-urban users. Influencer accounts from the northeast shared news coverage of pediatric poisonings. Very little public health messaging on prevention was identified.

Conclusion(s): Accidental pediatric poisonings evoke many discussions on social media. Political discourse diverts attention from effective prevention strategies in this area. Future public health initiatives should prioritize social media engagement as an opportunity to stabilize and potentially decrease accidental poisonings. Additionally, healthcare personnel need to tailor their approaches based on their understanding of regional differences.