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Trends in Outpatient Prescription Medicine Use in New Zealand Children 2010-2015: A National Population-Based Study
Andrew M Tomlin1, David J Woods2,3, Hywel S Lloyd2,4
1Best Practice Advocacy Centre, Dunedin, 9016, New Zealand. andy@bpac.org.nz.
Insights
Prescription medicine use in New Zealand children remained high, with increased use of analgesics and NSAIDs but decreased antibiotic use between 2010 and 2015. Further research into pediatric prescribing is recommended.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric pharmacology
- Public health surveillance
- Pharmaceutical utilization studies
Background:
- Limited research exists on outpatient prescription medicine trends in New Zealand children.
- Understanding pediatric medicine use is crucial for public health and clinical practice.
Purpose of the Study:
- To provide an overview of prescription medicine use among New Zealand children.
- To assess changes in pediatric medicine use patterns from 2010 to 2015.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective cohort study of all New Zealand children (<18 years) using national pharmaceutical claims data.
- Prevalence of medicine use calculated by age group, anatomical therapeutic class, and drug.
- Rate ratios used to compare prevalence between 2010 and 2015.
Main Results:
- Overall drug use prevalence was 70% (2010) and 73% (2015).
- Highest use in infants (<2 years, 90%), lowest in adolescents (12-17 years, 65%).
- Decreased antibiotic use (systemic: -2%, topical: -10%); increased use of analgesics (+10%), NSAIDs (+39%), antihistamines (+15%), and antinausea/vertigo agents (+306%).
Conclusions:
- Findings highlight potential areas for research into inappropriate prescribing and safety concerns in pediatric medicine.
- Monitoring trends is vital for evaluating pediatric therapies and potential adverse prescribing consequences.
Background:
Research examining trends in the outpatient prescription medicine use of New Zealand children is limited.
Objectives:
Our objective was to provide an overview of prescription medicine use in New Zealand children and assess changing patterns in use from 2010 to 2015.
Methods:
We conducted a retrospective cohort study including all New Zealand primary care-registered children aged < 18 years using data from the national pharmaceutical claims database. We calculated the prevalence of use within four age groups in each year by anatomical therapeutic class, therapeutic group and drug. Rate ratios were calculated to compare the prevalence of use in 2010 and 2015.
Results:
In total, 1,496,026 children with a mean of 2.7 years of potential drug exposure were included. The overall prevalence of drug use was 70% in 2010 and 73% in 2015. In 2015, medicine use was highest in children aged < 2 years (90%) and lowest in children aged 12-17 years (65%). Antibacterials, analgesics, topical corticosteroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and antihistamines were the most widely used medicines. The prevalence of use of systemic and topical antibiotics decreased by 2 and 10%, respectively, between 2010 and 2015, but there was increased use of analgesics (10%), NSAIDs (39%), antihistamines (15%) and antinausea and vertigo agents (306%).
Conclusions:
Our findings indicate areas for further research focusing on inappropriate prescribing to children and safety issues in children's medicine use. Monitoring changing patterns of use over time is important for the evaluation of effective therapies in children and any potential harmful consequences of prescribing.
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