Opportunistic blood lead testing in a paediatric inpatient population

Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health
R AldrichG Vimpani

Abstract

We report a simple protocol which has potential to estimate community paediatric blood lead levels using opportunistic testing. Permission to use leftover blood for a lead assay was sought from parents or guardians of 397 children one month to 13 years of age who were admitted to general paediatric wards of John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, between May and August 1993 and who had blood for a full blood count taken for any reason. Results were reviewed by a medical officer and returned to parents. Where a child's blood lead level was of concern according to National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines, the child was referred to a specialist paediatrician for clinical assessment. Written consent was received from the parents or guardians of 95.5 per cent of eligible children (n = 379); 93.4 per cent of responders (354 of 379) had blood suitable for testing, giving an overall result rate of 89.2 per cent (354 of 397). The mean blood lead level for the whole group was 5.3 micrograms/dL. The highest blood lead level for any age group was 6.4 micrograms/dL in the 36 to < 60 month age group. Stratification by geographical area showed a trend in increasing blood lead with increasing population density and areas where lead pol...Continue Reading

References

Jan 1, 1987·Community Health Studies·M D GliksmanJ Kinlay
Aug 21, 1982·The Medical Journal of Australia·M RathusC Rowan
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Citations

Dec 19, 2008·New South Wales Public Health Bulletin·Frances BorelandDavid M Lyle

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