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Citation
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Smith MD, Spiller HA, Casavant MJ, Chounthirath T, Brophy TJ, Xiang H. Pediatrics 2014; 134(5): 867-876. |
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Affiliation
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Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, Ohio; The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio huiyun.xiang@nationwidechildrens.org. |
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Abstract
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OBJECTIVE: To investigate out-of-hospital medication errors among young children in the United States.
METHODS: Using data from the National Poison Database System, a retrospective analysis of out-of-hospital medication errors among children <6 years old from 2002 through 2012 was conducted.
RESULTS: During 2002-2012, 696 937 children <6 years experienced out-of-hospital medication errors, averaging 63 358 episodes per year, or 1 child every 8 minutes. The average annual rate of medication errors was 26.42 per 10 000 population. Cough and cold medication errors decreased significantly, whereas the number (42.9% increase) and rate (37.2% increase) of all other medication errors rose significantly during the 11-year study period. The number and rate of medication error events decreased with increasing child age, with children <1 year accounting for 25.2% of episodes. Analgesics (25.2%) were most commonly involved in medication errors, followed by cough and cold preparations (24.6%). Ingestion accounted for 96.2% of events, and 27.0% of medication errors were attributed to inadvertently taking or being given medication twice. Most (93.5%) cases were managed outside of a health care facility; 4.4% were treated and released from a health care facility; 0.4% were admitted to a non-critical care unit; 0.3% were admitted to a critical care unit; and 25 children died.
CONCLUSIONS: This is the first comprehensive study to evaluate the epidemiologic characteristics of out-of-hospital medication errors among children <6 years of age on a national level. Increased efforts are needed to prevent medication errors, especially those involving non-cough and cold preparations, among young children.
Language: en |