Knowledge about Carbon Monoxide Poisoning among Medical and Non-Medical Students Living in Kraków - Questionnaire Study.

O b j e c t i v e s: Accidental exposure to non-fire related carbon monoxide (CO) in young people is largely unquantified. Our aim was to estimate the possibility of exposure to CO and the awareness of intoxication in the population of students living in Kraków, one of the largest academic cities in Poland. M e t h o d s: Anonymous questionnaires about CO poisoning were distributed among medical and non-medical students living in Kraków. R e s u l t s: 1081 questionnaires were collected - 16% of study participants knew a person who had been poisoned with carbon monoxide, 51.2% of students using a bathroom water heater believed that they had no risk of CO poisoning. Medical students gained significantly higher scores in the CO-poisoning knowledge test than non-medical ones. C o n c l u s i o n s: There is still unsatisfactory awareness of CO poisoning among non-medical students in Kraków.