The Difficulties Experienced During the Preparation and Administration of Oral Drugs by Parents at Home: a Cross-sectional Study from Palestine

Overview

Journal BMC Pediatr

Publisher Biomed Central

Specialty Pediatrics

Date 2020 May 9

PMID 32381063

Citations 4

Authors

Rafat Ali

Abdullah Shadeed

Hasan Fitian

Saed H Zyoud

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Background: Failure to properly administer drugs to children at home may cause adverse events, which makes it a challenging job for parents or caregivers. The main goal of this study was to investigate the problems and difficulties that parents or caregivers faced when administering oral drugs to their children at home.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted using a questionnaire consisting of 'yes/no' and multiple-response questions to assess parents' experiences and problems with administering medication to their children at home. Data was collected from parents who visited primary health care centres in Nablus. Descriptive analysis was conducted to describe the characteristics of the sample.

Results: We interviewed 420 parents. 91.9% of the parents used drugs without prescription from a doctor, and the most commonly used non-prescription medicines were antipyretics (n=386, 100%), influenza drugs (n=142, 36.8%), cough drugs (n=109, 28.2%) and antibiotics (n= 102, 26.4%). The study showed that 21.7% of parents used teaspoon and 7.1% used tablespoon in administering liquid medications to their children. When the children refused taking liquid medications, almost two-thirds of the parents (65.7%) insisted their children take them, 21.5% mixed it with juice, 5.2% mixed it with food and 4.7% mixed it with milk. 12.4% of the parents reported that they gave drugs in doses higher than prescribed by the doctor to treat their children more quickly. Also, our study revealed that 80.5% of the parents gave medications at incorrect intervals.

Conclusions: This study has shown that there is a proportion of caregivers or parents who administer oral drugs to their children incorrectly, which may involve giving them at the wrong intervals or doses, using incorrect instruments, or mixing them with food, juice or milk. The development of educational programs that will provide parents with education about medication administration is therefore recommended.

Citing Articles

Reconstitution of oral antibiotic suspensions for paediatric use in households: a cross-sectional study among caregivers of 3-5-year-old children from a selected district, Sri Lanka.

Kumarasinghe M, Weerasinghe M BMC Pediatr. 2024; 24(1):241.

PMID: 38575910 PMC: 10996081. DOI: 10.1186/s12887-024-04725-y.

A cross-sectional survey among parents to report challenges and barriers in the administration of medicines to children in United Arab Emirates.

AlKaddour N, Shah R, Gillani S, Sharafi N, Khan A, Elshafie R F1000Res. 2023; 11:1431.

PMID: 37065930 PMC: 10090859. DOI: 10.12688/f1000research.123317.2.

Administration of oral dosage forms of medicines to children in a resource limited setting.

Nadeshkumar A, Sathiadas G, Sri Ranganathan S PLoS One. 2022; 17(12):e0276379.

PMID: 36548310 PMC: 9778530. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0276379.

An assessment of parents' knowledge and awareness regarding paracetamol use in children: a cross-sectional study from Palestine.

Daifallah A, Jabr R, Al-Tawil F, Elkourdi M, Salman Z, Koni A BMC Public Health. 2021; 21(1):380.

PMID: 33602192 PMC: 7890973. DOI: 10.1186/s12889-021-10432-5.

References

Markman S . Parental self-feeding effects on parental care levels and time allocation in Palestine sunbirds. PLoS One. 2014; 9(12):e113890. PMC: 4256214. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0113890. View

Zyoud S, Al-Jabi S, Nabulsi M, Tubaila M, Sweileh W, Awang R . The Validity and Reliability of the Parent Fever Management Scale: A Study from Palestine. Matern Child Health J. 2014; 19(8):1890-7. DOI: 10.1007/s10995-014-1529-5. View

Waterston T, Nasser D . Access to healthcare for children in Palestine. BMJ Paediatr Open. 2018; 1(1):e000115. PMC: 5862189. DOI: 10.1136/bmjpo-2017-000115. View

Shonna Yin H, Mendelsohn A, Wolf M, Parker R, Fierman A, van Schaick L . Parents' medication administration errors: role of dosing instruments and health literacy. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010; 164(2):181-6. DOI: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2009.269. View

Krajnovic D, Ubavic S, Bogavac-Stanojevic N . Pharmacotherapy Literacy and Parental Practice in Use of Over-the-Counter Pediatric Medicines. Medicina (Kaunas). 2019; 55(3). PMC: 6473441. DOI: 10.3390/medicina55030080. View

Abraham O, Feathers A, Mook H, Korenoski A . The perceived benefits of student pharmacists educating children about over-the-counter medication safety. Curr Pharm Teach Learn. 2019; 11(2):184-191. DOI: 10.1016/j.cptl.2018.11.005. View

Cram A, Breitkreutz J, Desset-Brethes S, Nunn T, Tuleu C . Challenges of developing palatable oral paediatric formulations. Int J Pharm. 2008; 365(1-2):1-3. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijpharm.2008.09.015. View

Sharaideh R, Wazaify M, Albsoul-Younes A . Knowledge and attitude of school children in Amman/Jordan toward the appropriate use of medicines: A cross-sectional study. Saudi Pharm J. 2013; 21(1):25-33. PMC: 3745049. DOI: 10.1016/j.jsps.2012.01.001. View

Marsh V, Mutemi W, Muturi J, Haaland A, WATKINS W, Otieno G . Changing home treatment of childhood fevers by training shop keepers in rural Kenya. Trop Med Int Health. 1999; 4(5):383-9. DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-3156.1999.00403.x. View

10.

Al-Ramahi R, Zaid A, Anabousi H . Problems associated with reconstitution, administration, and storage of antibiotic suspensions for pediatrics: a cross-sectional study in Nablus city, Palestine. BMC Res Notes. 2015; 8:760. PMC: 4673755. DOI: 10.1186/s13104-015-1746-z. View

11.

Kirby M, Ameh D, Bottomley C, Green C, Jawara M, Milligan P . Effect of two different house screening interventions on exposure to malaria vectors and on anaemia in children in The Gambia: a randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 2009; 374(9694):998-1009. PMC: 3776946. DOI: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)60871-0. View

12.

. Crushing tablets or opening capsules: many uncertainties, some established dangers. Prescrire Int. 2014; 23(152):209-11, 213-4. View

13.

Wang G, Reynolds K, Banner W, Bond G, Kauffman R, Palmer R . Medication Errors From Over-the-Counter Cough and Cold Medications in Children. Acad Pediatr. 2019; 20(3):327-332. DOI: 10.1016/j.acap.2019.09.006. View

14.

Lopez F, Ernest T, Tuleu C, Orlu Gul M . Formulation approaches to pediatric oral drug delivery: benefits and limitations of current platforms. Expert Opin Drug Deliv. 2015; 12(11):1727-40. PMC: 4673516. DOI: 10.1517/17425247.2015.1060218. View

15.

Elliott M, Liu Y . The nine rights of medication administration: an overview. Br J Nurs. 2010; 19(5):300-5. DOI: 10.12968/bjon.2010.19.5.47064. View

16.

Otles S, Senturk A . Food and drug interactions: a general review. Acta Sci Pol Technol Aliment. 2014; 13(1):89-102. View

17.

Falagas M, Vouloumanou E, Plessa E, Peppas G, Rafailidis P . Inaccuracies in dosing drugs with teaspoons and tablespoons. Int J Clin Pract. 2010; 64(9):1185-9. DOI: 10.1111/j.1742-1241.2010.02402.x. View

18.

Tahaineh L, Wazaify M . Difficulties in swallowing oral medications in Jordan. Int J Clin Pharm. 2017; 39(2):373-379. DOI: 10.1007/s11096-017-0449-z. View

19.

Zyoud S, Taha A, Araj K, Abahri I, Sawalha A, Sweileh W . Parental knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding antibiotic use for acute upper respiratory tract infections in children: a cross-sectional study in Palestine. BMC Pediatr. 2015; 15:176. PMC: 4642624. DOI: 10.1186/s12887-015-0494-5. View

20.

Zyoud S, Al-Jabi S, Sweileh W . Worldwide research productivity of paracetamol (acetaminophen) poisoning: a bibliometric analysis (2003-2012). Hum Exp Toxicol. 2014; 34(1):12-23. DOI: 10.1177/0960327114531993. View