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Paediatric drug use with focus on off-label prescriptions in Swedish outpatient care--a nationwide study

J Olsson1, E Kimland, S Pettersson

  • 1Department of Pharmacovigilance, Medical Products Agency, Uppsala, Sweden. jonny.olsson@mpa.se

Acta Paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992)
|March 29, 2011
PubMed

Insights

Swedish children received over 2 million drug prescriptions in 2007, with 13.5% prescribed off-label. Common off-label pediatric drug use included topical treatments and sex hormones.

Area of Science:

  • Pediatric Pharmacology
  • Drug Utilization Research
  • Public Health

Background:

  • Understanding drug prescription patterns in pediatric populations is crucial for ensuring safe and effective medication use.
  • Off-label drug dispensing, where medications are used outside their approved indications, is a significant concern in pediatric care.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the patterns of drug prescription and the extent of off-label dispensing among children in Sweden.
  • To identify specific drug classes frequently prescribed off-label to pediatric outpatients.

Main Methods:

  • Analysis of all dispensed outpatient prescriptions for individuals aged 0-17 years in Sweden during 2007.
  • Utilized data from the Swedish Prescribed Drug Register to determine drug substances and off-label usage proportions.

Main Results:

  • A total of 2.19 million prescriptions for 898 drug substances were dispensed to pediatric patients.
  • 64% of drug substances were dispensed off-label at least once, with an overall off-label prescription rate of 13.5%.
  • Topical drugs and sex hormones were the most frequently dispensed off-label medications; over half of all children received at least one prescription.

Conclusions:

  • High rates of medication prescribing and significant off-label use are evident in Swedish pediatric outpatient care.
  • Commonly prescribed off-label drug categories include topical agents, sex hormones, antidepressants, hypnotics, cardiovascular drugs, and NSAIDs.
Abstract

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