This article requires a subscription to view the full text. If you have a subscription you may use the login form below to view the article. Access to this article can also be purchased.
Abstract
Objective. To determine whether parental errors in dosing liquid medication can be decreased through education.
Design. Randomized convenience sample stratified to three study groups.
Setting. General pediatric clinic, largely indigent and Latino.
Patients. A total of 45 English-speaking and 45 Spanish-speaking children diagnosed with otitis media and treated with an antibiotic suspension.
Intervention. Group 1 patients received the prescription and verbal instructions. Group 2 patients received the prescription and a syringe, then the correct dose was demonstrated. Group 3 patients received the prescription, a syringe with a line marked at the correct dose, and a demonstration. After returning from the pharmacy, parents administered the medication under observation. Parents in group 1 used a dispensing device similar to that planned for home use. The other groups used the syringe. After observation but before discharge, everyone received a syringe with a line marked at the correct dose. Patients were seen again at ∼1 month, and parents demonstrated how much medication they had administered.
Main Outcome Measure. Percent of parents who administered the correct dose.
Results. Patients in group 1 received between 32% and 147% of the correct dose, with only 11 of 30 (37%) receiving the correct dose (±0.2 mL). In group 2, 25 of 30 (83%) parents administered the correct dose, and in group 3, 30 of 30 (100%) gave the correct dose. Simultaneous logistic regression indicated that accuracy of dosage differed across instructional groups and language. At follow-up, 23 of 26 parents demonstrated the correct dose.
Conclusion. Education can decrease medication dosing errors made by both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking parents. Effectiveness was also shown at follow-up.
- Received September 16, 1996.
- Accepted January 29, 1997.
- Copyright © 1997 American Academy of Pediatrics
Individual Login
Institutional Login
You may be able to gain access using your login credentials for your institution. Contact your librarian or administrator if you do not have a username and password.
Log in through your institution
Purchase access
In this issue
Jump to section
Related Articles
Cited By...
- Literature review of medication administration problems in paediatrics by parent/caregiver and the role of health literacy
- Health Literacy: Implications for Child Health
- Liquid Medication Errors and Dosing Tools: A Randomized Controlled Experiment
- Evaluation of frequency of paediatric oral liquid medication dosing errors by caregivers: amoxicillin and josamycin
- Metric Units and the Preferred Dosing of Orally Administered Liquid Medications
- Medication Adherence Among Pediatric Patients With Sickle Cell Disease: A Systematic Review
- Medication Errors in the Home: A Multisite Study of Children With Cancer
- Accurately administering oral medication to children isn't child's play
- Medication errors in the homes of children with chronic conditions
- Prospective pilot intervention study to prevent medication errors in drugs administered to children by mouth or gastric tube: a programme for nurses, physicians and parents
- Effectiveness of interventions designed to promote patient involvement to enhance safety: a systematic review
- Health Literacy and Quality: Focus on Chronic Illness Care and Patient Safety
- Tenfold therapeutic dosing errors in young children reported to U.S. poison control centers
- Medication Errors Among Adults and Children With Cancer in the Outpatient Setting
- How to avoid paediatric medication errors: a user's guide to the literature
- Do Spanish- Speaking Latino Parents Understand Written Medication Instructions?
- Letter from the authors of "Improved Growth in Young Children with Severe Chronic Renal Insufficiency Who Use Specified Nutritional Therapy," which appeared on pages 2418-2426 of the November 2001 issue of JASN.
- Parents Can Be Taught to Give Meds Correctly
- PARENTS CAN BE TAUGHT TO GIVE MEDICATIONS CORRECTLY