Evaluating a virtual paediatric adverse drug reaction clinic

Adverse drug reactions (ADRs) are a common problem in paediatric health care. There is limited access to expertise in the evaluation and management of potential ADRs in children, limiting access to these services and creating delays in assessment and management. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the real world experience of, and satisfaction with, a virtual paediatric ADR clinic based in London, Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This was done using a mixed methods approach with a retrospective chart review from an online database and satisfaction surveys with patient families and referring clinicians.

We found that 225 ADRs were assessed virtually over 3 years, with an average referral time of 23 days and 43.6% of patients residing in distant rural and urban communities. Further testing (most commonly DPT, RAST, and LTA) was recommended for 89.3% of patients. Whereas a number of results were pending, 17.2% and 43.5% of tests ordered were positive and negative, respectively, demonstrating success in allergy de-labelling. A high level of satisfaction was reported by patient families (95.0%) and referring physicians (93.3%) that responded to the survey.

This study demonstrated the ability of a virtual clinic in a real-world setting to efficiently assess and triage children with suspected ADRs and suggests that telemedicine may be a feasible way to improve access to specialized ADR services for children.