Register-based study showed that the age when children were prescribed antibiotic tablets and capsules instead of...

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Pharmacology
• Drug Formulation
• Antibiotic Prescribing Practices

Background:

• Oral antibiotics for children are available in both liquid and solid forms.
• Understanding formulation preferences is crucial for optimizing pediatric antibiotic therapy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the age at which children transition from liquid to solid oral antibiotic formulations.
• To identify factors associated with the prescription of solid antibiotic formulations in children.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of over 1.2 million prescriptions from the Norwegian Prescription Database (2004-2016).
• Inclusion of data where both liquid and solid oral antibiotic dosage forms were available.

Main Results:

• The mean age for switching to solid oral antibiotics increased from 5.7 years (2004/2005) to 7.9 years (2015/2016).
• Factors associated with solid formulations included older child age, male gender, older prescriber age, male prescriber, general practitioners, and lower annual pediatric prescription volume.
• Medication characteristics like bad-tasting liquids and solid dosage form size/shape also played a role.

Conclusions:

• A notable increase in the age of prescribing solid oral antibiotics (tablets/capsules) for children occurred between 2004 and 2016.
• This trend is likely driven by evolving formulation preferences rather than changes in medication characteristics.