Administration of oral dosage forms of medicines to children in a resource limited setting

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Pharmacology
• Pharmaceutical Sciences
• Child Health

Background:

• Children face unique challenges with oral medications, including dosage form suitability and administration difficulties.
• Parental practices for administering medication to children often deviate from ideal methods.
• Lack of age-appropriate formulations and swallowing difficulties are significant barriers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe parental administration practices for oral medications given to children.
• To identify common methods parents use to administer medications to pediatric patients.
• To assess the adherence to recommended practices in pediatric oral drug administration.

Main Methods:

• A descriptive cross-sectional study involving 1800 oral dosage forms administered to children under 12 years.
• Validated indicators were used to assess administration practices.
• Data collected via interviewer-administered questionnaires given to parents or caregivers.

Main Results:

• Nearly one-third of solid oral dosage forms (1287) were manipulated by parents.
• Crushing and dissolving medications in water was a common manipulation technique.
• Inappropriate measuring devices were used in 92% of instances, and water safety was questionable in 17%.

Conclusions:

• Current practices for administering oral medications to children are suboptimal.
• These administration challenges can impede the effective use of medications in pediatric populations.
• There is a need for improved strategies and education to ensure safe and effective pediatric medication administration.