Related Experiment Video

Updated: Jul 20, 2026

The Adventures of Fundi Intervention Based on the Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Patients
05:48

The Adventures of Fundi Intervention Based on the Cognitive and Emotional Processing in Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder Patients

Published on: June 12, 2020

Promoting medication adherence in children

Paula Gardiner1, Lana Dvorkin

  • 1Osher Institute, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts 02215, USA. paula_gardiner@hsm.harvard.edu

American Family Physician
|September 15, 2006
PubMed

Insights

Improving pediatric treatment adherence is crucial for clinical success. Strategies include simplified regimens, pleasant formulations, and collaborative treatment planning involving children and parents.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Medicine
  • Clinical Pharmacy
  • Patient Adherence Research

Background:

  • Pediatric treatment adherence is a significant challenge for healthcare providers, impacting overall clinical outcomes.
  • Patient adherence to medical regimens is a critical factor in achieving successful treatment results.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To outline effective strategies for enhancing treatment adherence in pediatric patients.
  • To provide physicians with actionable methods to improve children's compliance with medical plans.

Main Methods:

  • Review of established and innovative adherence-enhancing strategies for pediatric populations.
  • Emphasis on communication, patient education, and shared decision-making between physicians, children, and parents.

Main Results:

  • Simplified drug regimens (e.g., once-daily dosing) and non-pill formulations improve adherence.
  • Patient education, counseling, reminders, and individualized attention are effective.
  • Collaborative treatment plan development, with child participation, significantly boosts adherence.

Conclusions:

  • A multifaceted approach incorporating simplified regimens, patient-centered communication, and shared decision-making is key to improving pediatric adherence.
  • Physician-parent-child collaboration in treatment planning fosters better compliance and clinical success.

Related Concept Videos

Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Excretion01:26

Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Excretion

In pediatric medicine, understanding the renal function and drug elimination nuances is crucial for administering safe and effective treatments. Newborns, in particular, display markedly slower renal functions than adults, profoundly affecting how drugs are cleared from their bodies. This slower drug clearance requires clinicians to extend the dosing intervals for many medications to prevent drug accumulation and toxicity while ensuring therapeutic efficacy.One key area where these adjustments...
Drug Therapy01:28

Drug Therapy

The advent of drug therapy has profoundly shaped modern mental health care, providing targeted treatments for a range of psychological disorders. Psychotherapeutic drugs, classified into antianxiety, antidepressant, and antipsychotic medications, address symptoms across anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and schizophrenia. While these medications have transformed patient outcomes, they require careful management due to their potential side effects and limitations.
Antianxiety Medications
Drug Dosing: Infants and Children01:29

Drug Dosing: Infants and Children

Pediatric patient dosages diverge from adults due to disparities in body surface area, total body water, and extracellular fluid per kilogram of body weight. The dosing regimen considers the variations in pharmacokinetics and pharmacology across distinct age groups, encompassing preterm newborns, infants, young children, older children, and adolescents. Calculation of pediatric patient doses is predicated on determining body surface area, which exhibits a superior correlation with the child's...
Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Overview and Drug Absorption01:23

Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Overview and Drug Absorption

Understanding the physiological differences in the pediatric population is crucial for effective pharmacotherapy. Neonates, infants, and children exhibit significant variations in gastric pH, gastric emptying time, intestinal transit time, and biliary function. These variations profoundly affect oral drug absorption, necessitating a nuanced approach to pediatric dosing.Neonates present with a unique physiological profile, having a gastric pH greater than 4 and faster and more irregular gastric...
Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Distribution01:17

Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Distribution

Drug distribution in the pediatric population exhibits unique challenges and considerations due to the physiological differences between children, particularly neonates and infants, and adults. A crucial aspect of pediatric pharmacology is understanding how these differences impact the pharmacokinetics of various drugs, necessitating age-specific dosing strategies to ensure efficacy and safety.Neonates and infants have a higher total body water content, ~75%–90% of their body weight, compared...
Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Metabolism01:24

Pharmacokinetics in Pediatric Patients: Drug Metabolism

In pediatric care, understanding the nuances of hepatic drug metabolism is crucial, as it significantly differs from that of adults. This divergence is primarily due to the developmental stage of drug-metabolizing enzymes, which affects how medications are processed in the body. In neonates, for instance, the activity of Phase I enzymes—critical for the initial breakdown of drugs—is markedly reduced, functioning at just 20–40% of the levels seen in adults. This reduction poses a challenge in...