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Perceptions and attitudes of pediatricians and families with regard to pediatric medication errors at home
Javier González de Dios1,2,3, Adriana López-Pineda4,5,6, Gema Mira-Perceval Juan7
1Pharmacology, Pediatrics and Organic Chemistry, Miguel Hernandez University, San Juan de Alicante, Spain.
Insights
Pediatricians and parents agree that lack of knowledge contributes to medication errors at home. Most pediatricians support a program to prevent these errors in children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric healthcare
- Patient safety
- Medication management
Background:
- Medication errors in children pose a significant risk.
- Understanding perceptions of these errors is crucial for prevention.
- Parental and pediatrician viewpoints may differ, impacting safety strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify pediatrician and parent/caregiver perceptions of home medication errors.
- To compare these perceptions between the two groups.
- To assess opinions on interventions for preventing pediatric medication errors.
Main Methods:
- Cross-sectional survey study conducted in Spain (2019-2021).
- Surveys designed for pediatricians and parents/caregivers of children aged 14 and younger.
- Comparison of responses to identical questions regarding treatment management, medication errors, and prevention programs.
Main Results:
- Most pediatricians (62.6%) and families (79.3%) do not consider managing medical treatment a major parental difficulty.
- Pediatricians perceived parents consult the internet (79.1%) for health information, while families reported consulting healthcare professionals (81.1%).
- Lack of knowledge was a commonly cited cause of medication errors by both groups; 95.1% of pediatricians would recommend a prevention program.
Conclusions:
- Both pediatricians and families perceive medication management as manageable.
- Lack of parental knowledge is a key factor in pediatric medication errors.
- Pediatricians are receptive to implementing home-based medication error prevention programs for families.
Purpose:
This study aimed to identify the perceptions and attitudes of pediatricians and parents/caregivers regarding medication errors at home, and to compare the findings from the two populations.
Methods:
This was a cross-sectional survey study. We designed a survey for working pediatricians and another one for parents or caregivers of children aged 14 years and younger. The survey's questions were designed to assess provider and parental opinions about the difficulty faced by parents providing medical treatment, specific questions on medication errors, and on a possible intervention program aimed at preventing pediatric medication errors. Pediatrician and parent responses to matching questions in both surveys were compared.
Results:
The surveys were administered in Spain from 2019 to 2021. In total, 182 pediatricians and 194 families took part. Most pediatricians (62.6%) and families (79.3%) considered that managing medical treatment was not among the main difficulties faced by parents in caring for their children. While 79.1% of pediatricians thought that parents consulted the internet to resolve doubts regarding the health of their children, most families (81.1%) said they consulted healthcare professionals. Lack of knowledge among parents and caregivers was one of the causes of medication errors most frequently mentioned by both pediatricians and parents. Most pediatricians (95.1%) said they would recommend a program designed to prevent errors at home.
Conclusions:
Pediatricians and families think that medical treatment is not among the main difficulties faced by parents in caring for their children. Most pediatricians said they would recommend a medication error reporting and learning system designed for families of their patients to prevent medication errors that might occur in the home environment.
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