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. 2023 Jul 31;23(1):380.
doi: 10.1186/s12887-023-04106-x.

Perceptions and attitudes of pediatricians and families with regard to pediatric medication errors at home

Javier González de Dios #  1   2   3 , Adriana López-Pineda #  4   5   6 , Gema Mira-Perceval Juan  7 , Pedro J Alcalá Minagorre  2   3 , Mercedes Guilabert  8 , Virtudes Pérez-Jover  3   9 , Irene Carrillo  9 , José Joaquín Mira  5   9   10
Affiliations

Perceptions and attitudes of pediatricians and families with regard to pediatric medication errors at home

Javier González de Dios et al. BMC Pediatr. .

Abstract

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.

Keywords: Caregivers; Child; Medication errors; Parents; Pediatricians.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Graph of responses of pediatricians to the questions about A main difficulties encountered by parents related to their children health and B sources of information consulted by parents when they have doubts or difficulties in caring for their children
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Graph of responses of pediatricians to the questions about A causes of medication errors at home, B common medication errors considered most serious and C drug groups most frequently involved in medication errors made by parents and other carers
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Areas of improvement to be included in a program aimed at preventing possible pediatric medication errors at home
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Graph of responses of pediatricians to the question about best way of promoting a program aimed at preventing possible pediatric medication errors at home
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Graph of responses of parents/caregivers to the questions about A main difficulties encountered by parents related to their children health and B sources of information consulted by parents when they have doubts or difficulties in caring for their children
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Causes of medication errors at home according to parents/caregivers
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Graph of responses of parents/caregivers to the questions about most common errors made by parents and other carers (family members, child minders)
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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