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Medication Safety In Children

 

Clinical courses

PharmaTutor (March- 2014)
ISSN: 2347 - 7881

 

Received On: 11/01/2014; Accepted On: 31/01/2014; Published On: 05/03/2014

 

Author: Languluri Reddenna
Department of Pharmacy Practice,
Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Kadapa, Andhra Pradesh, India.
reddennapharmd@gmail.com

 

ABSTRACT:
Objective Monitoring the safety of medicine use in children is of superlative prominence, on the other hand only limited data on this aspect. In-between 1979 and 2006, the poisoning death rate cut in half, declining from 0.35 to 0.17 per 100,000 children. Therefore, the main aim of the study was to evaluate the medication safety in children’s.
Methods A prospective observationalstudy was conducted in thePICU, NICU, IP and OP department of Paediatricsat Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences overa 6-months period(fromaugust 2012 toJanuary 2013). The Institutional Ethics and Research Committee of Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences, Kadapa (Rc.No.413/Acad./2011-12), approved the study. All patients under 12 year of age were included in the study. Patients referred from another health facility or hospital to collect their medications from the pharmacy of the respective health clinics were excluded from the study. All documented medication orders monitored for any drug misadventures and recommended to the pediatricians.
Results Drug misadventures include medication errors 588 (84%), ADEs 27 (3.8%), ADRs 33 (4.8%) and drug interactions 52 (7.4%).
Conclusion Prescriber’s workload, lack of sufficient knowledge and time spent with one patient are restrains that lead to most of the mistakes. Recognition of these errors is the first step in their prevention. There is a crucial need to develop methods to reduce medication errors in children should be the major priority. It can be concluded that drug misadventures are common in children.

 

How to cite this article: L Reddenna, Medication Safety in Children, PharmaTutor, 2014, 2(3), 124-133

 

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