(11) POISTEM Mobile Application: A Smart Strategy and Quick Guide for Identification of Pesticide Poisons

Presenting Author(s)

CK

Chaithanya J. Kogati (he/him/his)

Post Graduate student
Department of pharmacy practice, Manipal college of pharmaceutical science, MAHE, Manipal
Manipal, Karnataka, India

Author(s)

PG

Pooja G. Gopal Poojari, M Pharm

Research Scholar
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education
Manipal, Karnataka, India
Girish Thunga P, PhD

Associate Professor
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education
Manipal, Karnataka, India
Sreedharan Nair, MPharm, PhD, PhD

Associate Professor
Department of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal
Manipal, Karnataka, India
Vijayanarayana Kunhikatta, PhD (he/him/his)

Associate professor
Department of Pharmacy practice, Manipal college of pharmaceutical sciences,Manipal Academy of Higher Education,Manipal, Karnataka, India
Manipal, Karnataka, India

ABSTRACT:

The problem considered: Poisoning is a serious public health hazard that causes substantial morbidity and mortality across the world. Suicidal or accidental exposure due to chemical spills or leaks or occupational exposure in the case of farmers, pesticide handlers, and laborers, are all possible forms of pesticide exposure. Pesticides are the most widely used poisoning agent in India due to their easy availability and low cost. In emergency settings, the management of acute poisoning cases is the biggest challenge due to the difficulty in diagnosis of poison consumed. This Poison Identification System (POISTEM) application (App) will be useful in identifying the brand name and contents of the pesticide along with signs and symptoms which will help in the early detection of the consumed pesticide poison.

Objective: The aim of this study was to assess the physician's need for the development of Poistem App by using a questionnaire to implement it in tertiary care hospitals and to gather feedback on the App from physicians after its implementation.

Methods: A 12-item questionnaire was developed based on a literature review, validated and was provided to 42 physicians and PG students to assess the need for the app. After assessing the need for the App from physicians and PG students who treat poisoning cases and based on the pesticide poison cases admitted to the emergency settings, pesticides such as insecticides, herbicides, rodenticides and fungicides, plant growth regulators and micronutrients were identified as the compounds to be included in the App. The Poistem mobile solution is an application for android. It was developed based on an XML layout to render a user interface in the Java for the application business logic and native libraries to access device features such as network application programming interface to send feedback. The App consists of information on different pesticide brands which was collected from pesticide shops and the website of registered pesticide companies and was categorized as brand names, chemical names, chemical class, and signs and symptoms.

Results: Need assessment results showed that 64.3% of the physicians find it difficult in identifying the consumed poison and 71.4% of the physicians reported poisoning cases as challenging and all 42 physicians (100%) have suggested the need for the App. Total of 779 compounds were incorporated in the App. Based on this, the basic version of Poistem App was developed and stored in Google stores at the time of feedback collection. Feedback was taken from the physicians regarding the accessibility, content, and quality of the App. All of them found this App useful and strongly felt that the hospital would get benefited from such App. The physicians also assessed the app as excellent (54.50%), and very good (45.50%).

Conclusion: This offline App can help in the easy retrieval of information in a short period and better management of pesticide poisoning cases in the emergency settings.