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Medication-related problems and their associated factors among paediatric patients in Ethiopia: a systematic review

Desalegn Mitiku Kidie1, Addisu Simachew Asgai2, Tadios Lidetu3

  • 1Department of Pediatric and Child Health Nursing, College of Health Science, Debark University, Debark, Ethiopia desumitiku4@gmail.com.

BMJ Paediatrics Open
|January 13, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Over half of Ethiopian children face medication-related problems, with dosing errors being common. Polypharmacy and comorbidities significantly increase this risk, highlighting the need for better medication management in paediatric care.

Area of Science:

  • Public Health
  • Pharmacovigilance
  • Paediatric Medicine

Background:

  • Medication-related problems pose a global health threat, particularly to children due to unique physiological factors.
  • Ethiopia, a low-resource setting, faces a high but unquantified burden of paediatric medication issues.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To systematically review and meta-analyze the prevalence of medication-related problems in Ethiopian children.
  • To identify factors associated with these medication-related problems in the paediatric population.

Main Methods:

  • A comprehensive systematic search of multiple databases (PubMed, Google Scholar, etc.) and manual reference checks was performed.
  • 21 hospital-based studies involving 5969 paediatric patients were included, adhering to PRISMA guidelines.
  • Random-effect modeling was employed due to moderate heterogeneity (I²=39.4%), with subgroup analysis and meta-regression to explore variations.

Main Results:

  • The pooled prevalence of medication-related problems was 53% (95% CI 45% to 61%), with an average of 1.17 problems per child.
  • Dosing errors affected 37.4% of children, while 51% had comorbidities and 42% were on polypharmacy (≥5 medications).
  • Polypharmacy (OR=1.32) and comorbidities (OR=1.32) were significantly associated with increased medication-related problems.

Conclusions:

  • More than half of paediatric patients in Ethiopia experience medication-related problems.
  • Polypharmacy and comorbidities are identified as key contributing factors.
  • Comprehensive medication review and monitoring are crucial to reduce this significant public health burden.
Abstract

Keywords:
Child HealthEthiopiaPharmacology

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