The National Poison data System ® : a bibliographic review of publication trends and topic modeling using language models

Introduction The National Poison Data System® is a key resource for toxicology research and public health surveillance. Despite widespread use, no recent comprehensive analysis of National Poison Data System® research in peer-reviewed biomedical literature exists. This study evaluates bibliographic trends in publications using National Poison Data System® data, identifies dominant research themes, and characterizes the journals disseminating this work.Methods We searched PubMed, Embase, and Scopus for articles published between January 1, 2003, and April 14, 2025, that explicitly referenced the National Poison Data System®. Abstracts were reviewed for relevance and duplicates, categorized by journal topic using SCImago Journal & Country Rank categories, and publications by year aggregated. Abstracts underwent text embedding, dimensionality reduction, and clustering to identify the top 10 topics. Topic labels were generated through consensus voting, and topics were identified within individual abstracts using gpt-4.1-nano.Results After duplicate removal and screening, 344 articles met the inclusion criteria. National Poison Data System® publications increased steadily from one in 2007, peaking at 34 in 2023. Topic modeling identified major themes: pediatric poisoning (n = 187), opioid poisoning (n = 51), medication errors (n = 38), and adolescent self-harm (n = 34). The most common journals included Clinical Toxicology (n = 122), Pediatrics (n = 19), and Journal of Medical Toxicology (n = 16). Journal categories included medical toxicology (47.1%), pediatrics (14.5%), pharmacology (10.8%), emergency medicine (9.0%), and public health (7.3%).Discussion This study highlights the growing use of National Poison Data System® data in research, especially in pediatrics and opioid-related topics. The breadth of journals in which the data are published reflects its multidisciplinary value. Improving the National Poison Data System® infrastructure and accessibility may support further innovation and broaden the investigator pool.Conclusion National Poison Data System® data support a growing and diverse body of research with implications for toxicology, emergency medicine, pediatrics, and public health.