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American Academy of Pediatrics
Article

Out-of-Hospital Medication Errors Among Young Children in the United States, 2002–2012

Maxwell D. Smith, Henry A. Spiller, Marcel J. Casavant, Thiphalak Chounthirath, Todd J. Brophy and Huiyun Xiang
Pediatrics October 2014, peds.2014-0309; DOI: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2014-0309
Maxwell D. Smith
aCenter for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio;
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Henry A. Spiller
bCentral Ohio Poison Center, Columbus, Ohio; and
cThe Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio
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Marcel J. Casavant
bCentral Ohio Poison Center, Columbus, Ohio; and
cThe Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio
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Thiphalak Chounthirath
aCenter for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio;
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Todd J. Brophy
aCenter for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio;
cThe Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio
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Huiyun Xiang
aCenter for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, Columbus, Ohio;
cThe Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, Ohio
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Abstract

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.

  • medication error
  • ingestion
  • NPDS
  • poisoning
  • poison control center
  • Accepted August 28, 2014.
  • Copyright © 2014 by the American Academy of Pediatrics
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Pediatrics
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1 Apr 2021
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Out-of-Hospital Medication Errors Among Young Children in the United States, 2002–2012
Maxwell D. Smith, Henry A. Spiller, Marcel J. Casavant, Thiphalak Chounthirath, Todd J. Brophy, Huiyun Xiang
Pediatrics Oct 2014, peds.2014-0309; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2014-0309

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Out-of-Hospital Medication Errors Among Young Children in the United States, 2002–2012
Maxwell D. Smith, Henry A. Spiller, Marcel J. Casavant, Thiphalak Chounthirath, Todd J. Brophy, Huiyun Xiang
Pediatrics Oct 2014, peds.2014-0309; DOI: 10.1542/peds.2014-0309
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