By Alyssa Sparacino Aug 30th 2010 1:53PM
Widespread Parental Misuse of Medication Puts Children at Risk
By Alyssa Sparacino Aug 30th 2010 1:53PM
Categories: News
Many children are taking greater doses of over-the-counter medicine than is safely recommended, and parents and child-care employees could be unintentionally to blame, new research finds.
Lead researcher Dr. Rebekah Moles, of the University of Sydney in New South Wales, says that both errors in judgment surrounding proper dosage and the types of medicine resulted in a large amount of emergency medical center visits in Australia.
The findings, which will be presented today at the annual meeting of the International Pharmaceutical Federation, show that not only were children being overmedicated, but they were also sometimes given the inappropriate type of medicine by parents and other caregivers.
"We were surprised and concerned to find that some people thought that medicines must be safe because you can buy them without prescription," Moles says in a news release.
A similar study was conducted in the U.S. in 2008 and found that improper dosing of medication sends about 7,000 children in this country to the hospital each year.
Ninety-seven adults -- parents and day-care staff -- were followed for five months as well as participating children between the ages of 4 and 5. Several scenarios were presented, such as describing a child's symptoms as feeling hot and seeming irritable while still eating, drinking and playing normally. Then the adults were given several common over-the-counter medicines, and were asked how they would handle the situation.
The adults recorded if and at what stage the children would receive the medicine, what type and how much they would be given.
The researchers say after combining the results from all the scenarios, 44 percent of adults would have given an inaccurate dose, as only 64 percent were able to correctly measure the dose they intended to give the child.
Sixty-one percent of the time, adults would have given the kids Tylenol to treat coughs, colds and fevers, regardless of whether or not a fever was present, findings show. Only 14 percent of professional childcare workers were able to handle fevers appropriately.
The youngest children seemed to be most greatly affected, as 80 percent of those overdoses were related to those under 3.
"Given these figures and our findings, there is an urgent need to review the use of children's OTC medicines by parents," Moles says in a new release. "However, the most important thing is to improve carers' understanding of when and how to give medication."
"It is vital that parents worldwide should understand the proper usage of medicines so that they do not continue to put their children's health at risk,"
Categories: News
Many children are taking greater doses of over-the-counter medicine than is safely recommended, and parents and child-care employees could be unintentionally to blame, new research finds.
Lead researcher Dr. Rebekah Moles, of the University of Sydney in New South Wales, says that both errors in judgment surrounding proper dosage and the types of medicine resulted in a large amount of emergency medical center visits in Australia.
The findings, which will be presented today at the annual meeting of the International Pharmaceutical Federation, show that not only were children being overmedicated, but they were also sometimes given the inappropriate type of medicine by parents and other caregivers.
"We were surprised and concerned to find that some people thought that medicines must be safe because you can buy them without prescription," Moles says in a news release.
A similar study was conducted in the U.S. in 2008 and found that improper dosing of medication sends about 7,000 children in this country to the hospital each year.
Ninety-seven adults -- parents and day-care staff -- were followed for five months as well as participating children between the ages of 4 and 5. Several scenarios were presented, such as describing a child's symptoms as feeling hot and seeming irritable while still eating, drinking and playing normally. Then the adults were given several common over-the-counter medicines, and were asked how they would handle the situation.
The adults recorded if and at what stage the children would receive the medicine, what type and how much they would be given.
The researchers say after combining the results from all the scenarios, 44 percent of adults would have given an inaccurate dose, as only 64 percent were able to correctly measure the dose they intended to give the child.
Sixty-one percent of the time, adults would have given the kids Tylenol to treat coughs, colds and fevers, regardless of whether or not a fever was present, findings show. Only 14 percent of professional childcare workers were able to handle fevers appropriately.
The youngest children seemed to be most greatly affected, as 80 percent of those overdoses were related to those under 3.
"Given these figures and our findings, there is an urgent need to review the use of children's OTC medicines by parents," Moles says in a new release. "However, the most important thing is to improve carers' understanding of when and how to give medication."
"It is vital that parents worldwide should understand the proper usage of medicines so that they do not continue to put their children's health at risk,"
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