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Antipyretic drug use in children in French office based medical practice

Jean Deligne1, Lamiae Grimaldi, Annie-Pierre Jonville-Béra

  • 1CANAM, Caisse Nationale d'Assurance Maladie des Professions Indépendantes, France.

Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety
|June 5, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Paracetamol is the most prescribed antipyretic (AP) in French children. Combinations of APs, like ibuprofen and paracetamol, are common in toddlers, highlighting a need for clear fever management guidelines.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pharmacology
  • Drug Utilization Studies
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Antipyretics (APs) are widely used for fever management in children.
  • Understanding prescription patterns is crucial for optimizing pediatric pharmacotherapy.
  • The combination of different APs raises safety and efficacy questions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To analyze the prescription profile of antipyretics (APs) in children under 12 years old in France.
  • To determine the frequency of AP combinations in pediatric prescriptions.

Main Methods:

  • Retrospective analysis of AP prescriptions (acetylsalicylic acid, paracetamol, ibuprofen, ketoprofen) refunded by a French public health insurer in 2003.
  • Data included 513,034 prescriptions for 240,720 children.

Main Results:

  • Paracetamol was the most frequently prescribed AP, with usage declining with age.
  • Ibuprofen-only prescriptions increased with age, peaking between 2 and 6 years.
  • The ibuprofen/paracetamol combination was most common in children aged 2-6 years (21.7%).

Conclusions:

  • French prescribers demonstrate awareness of the risk-benefit profiles of individual APs, favoring paracetamol.
  • Further research is needed to clarify the rationale behind AP alternation or combination therapy.
  • Development of national guidelines for fever management in children is recommended to standardize AP use and limit combinations.
Abstract

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