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[Drug prescription to 4-year-old children in the county of Vestfold]

K W Wefring1, R Nordhagen, K K Lie

  • 1Statens institutt for folkehelse, Oslo.

Tidsskrift for Den Norske Laegeforening : Tidsskrift for Praktisk Medicin, Ny Raekke
|September 10, 1999
PubMed

Insights

This study on four-year-olds found moderate use of prescribed medicines, with 557 preparations per 1,000 children, including antibiotics for 63%. Further pharmacoepidemiological research is recommended.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Health
  • Pharmacoepidemiology

Background:

  • Assessing general health, diseases, and medicine use in young children is crucial for public health.
  • Understanding medication patterns in pediatric populations informs clinical practice and policy.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the general health, disease prevalence, and medicine utilization among four-year-old children over a 12-month period.
  • To quantify the rate of prescribed medication use and identify common drug classes in this age group.

Main Methods:

  • A questionnaire-based study conducted during routine health controls.
  • Data collected from 1,912 children, representing a 79% response rate from children born in a specific county.
  • Analysis of prescribed medicine use, including the number of preparations per child and specific drug types like antibiotics.

Main Results:

  • Over half of the children (557 preparations per 1,000 children) received physician-prescribed medicine.
  • A mean of 1.4 preparations per child was observed, with some children using multiple drug types.
  • Antibiotics were prescribed to 63% of the participating children.

Conclusions:

  • The use of prescribed medicine among four-year-olds in this study was found to be moderate compared to other research.
  • Further pharmacoepidemiological studies are necessary to evaluate the acceptability of current medicine use in children.
  • This research highlights the need for ongoing surveillance of pediatric medication patterns.

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