PEDIATRICS Vol. 81 No. 1 January 1988, pp. 163-164
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow P3Rs: Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when P3Rs are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow E-mail this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My File Cabinet
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via CrossRef
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by MORTENSEN, M. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by MORTENSEN, M. E.

Clinical Toxicology and Epidemiology—A Good Match

MARY ELLEN MORTENSEN MD1

1 Section of Clinical Pharmacology/Toxicology, Department of Pediatrics, Ohio State University, Children's Hospital, Columbus

In their article, Zweiner and Ginsburg1 use descriptive epidemiology as a tool to provide new and useful information. At the same time, they show the usefulness and the limitations of this method and reemphasize specific issues in the diagnosis and management of anticholinesterase insecticide poisonings.

Descriptive epidemiology is useful for describing the natural history of disease, for evaluating trends in health or disease, and for making comparisons among different subgroups. It helps identify problems or topics for research (ie, hypothesis generation).2 Descriptive epidemiology is often used for evaluating clinical toxicology data. The systematic reworking of a large case series permits review of diagnostic criteria and accuracy and critique of accepted or novel therapy.