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

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.