Promoting Safe Use of Paracetamol in Children

Graudins, Linda V; Gazarian, Madlen

doi:10.1002/j.2055-2335.2006.tb00633.x

Cited by 4 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 25 publications

(35 reference statements)

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“…Most of the children described in this study received paracetamol, especially to treat febrile episodes. This common practice of administering paracetamol (or other anti- pyretic) to children with fever does not appear to have any benefits from available studies [ 10 , 11 ]. Fever is a common symptom of childhood illness in both developed and developing countries and much time and effort is spent on attempts to reduce high temperatures in young children.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paracetamol use (and/or misuse) in children in Enugu, South-East, Nigeria

et al. 2012

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BackgroundParacetamol (also known as acetaminophen) is the commonest available analgesic and anti-pyretic. It is readily accessed from pharmacy, patent medicine and provision shops as over the counter drug making it a potential drug of abuse, especially in children. We sought to find its use and/or misuse in children seen at the paediatric outpatient clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu.ObjectiveTo determine the dosage, formulation, and frequency of paracetamol administration to children by caregivers and factors associated with its use and/or misuse.MethodAn observational prospective study involving 231 children and their caregivers seen at the paediatric outpatient clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku - Ozalla, Enugu between June and November 2011 was undertaken. Data on paracetamol use before presentation to the clinic, in addition to demographic and other data were obtained from the caregivers using a structured questionnaire. Ethical consent for the study was obtained from the Hospital Ethics and Research Committee and informed consent was further obtained from the caregivers of the children.ResultsA total of 231 children aged six weeks to 16 years and their caregivers participated in this study. The mean ages of the children and their caregivers were 3.8 and 33.9 years, respectively. One hundred and thirty three of the children studied were males while 98 were females. Most of the children (75.6%) received paracetamol at home before presenting. Paracetamol tablet alone or in combination with the syrup was mostly used (60%) and this observation was made across all age groups. The commonest reason for using paracetamol tablet instead of the syrup was that it was more effective. Most caregivers relied on past experience (71.2%) rather than on enclosed information leaflet to decide the appropriate dosage. Half of the children also received other medications, mainly anti-malarials and antibiotics.ConclusionsParacetamol was commonly given to children on “self prescription” basis and the tablet formulation was most frequently used, with the possibility of misuse and overdose. Caregivers need to be educated on age-appropriate formulations which are less likely to lead to overdose.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Paracetamol use (and/or misuse) in children in Enugu, South-East, Nigeria

et al. 2012

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“…Another recent US study demonstrated poor emergency department patient knowledge concerning paracetamol in over‐the‐counter and prescription analgesics: for example, 49% of patients did not know that Tylenol, a commonly used US analgesic, contained paracetamol 9 . Lack of knowledge about the paracetamol content of commonly used over‐the‐counter preparations (including combination products) given to children by parents and carers has resulted in many cases of paracetamol overdose and toxicity in young children 10 …”

Section: Consequences Of Labelling Confusionmentioning

confidence: 99%

What's in a name? Brand name confusion and generic medicines

Carney

Gazarian

Denholm

et al. 2011

Medical Journal of Australia

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