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Published on: June 11, 2012

Evaluation of a method to reduce over-the-counter medication dosing error

Karen S Frush1, Xuemei Luo, Paul Hutchinson

  • 1Division of Emergency Medicine, Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710, USA. k.frush@duke.edu

Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine
|July 9, 2004
PubMed

Insights

Caregivers using a color-coded dosing method showed significantly less deviation when administering acetaminophen to children compared to conventional methods. This simple color-coding approach improves medication dosing accuracy at home.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric pharmacology
  • Medication safety
  • Health literacy

Background:

  • Accurate dosing of over-the-counter (OTC) medications is crucial for pediatric patient safety.
  • Conventional package labeling can lead to significant dosing errors by caregivers.
  • A need exists for simplified, intuitive medication dosing systems in home settings.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To introduce a novel color-coding concept for simplified OTC medication dosing in a home environment.
  • To compare the accuracy of medication dosing using the color-coded method versus conventional labeling.
  • To assess caregiver adherence to recommended dosages for pediatric acetaminophen administration.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted in a pediatric emergency center.
  • 101 caregivers were randomized into two groups: conventional dosing and color-coded dosing for acetaminophen.
  • Dosing deviation from the recommended dosage was calculated for both dose determination and measurement.

Main Results:

  • Caregivers using the color-coded method demonstrated significantly lower average and median deviations in dose determination (1.7% vs 25.8% average; 0% vs 1% median).
  • Similar significant improvements were observed in dose measuring accuracy with the color-coded method (0.5% vs 29% average; 0% vs 17.2% median).
  • Statistical analysis (Wilcoxon rank sum test) confirmed significant differences in median deviation between groups (P<.001 for both determination and measurement).

Conclusions:

  • The color-coded dosing method significantly enhances caregivers' accuracy in determining and measuring OTC medication doses for children.
  • This simplified approach offers a marked improvement over conventional dosing methods, potentially reducing medication errors.
  • Color-coding presents a promising strategy to improve pediatric medication safety in home care settings.
Abstract

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