A systematic review on pediatric medication errors by parents or caregivers at home

ABSTRACT

Introduction

Medication errors (MEs) are frequent and, in some cases, can lead to hospitalization, disability, increased healthcare costs or, even, death. Most of pediatric medications are administered by parents or caregivers at home. It is necessary to explore the MEs at home to improve pediatric patient safety.

Areas covered

This study aimed to review the current literature on the frequency of pediatric MEs by parents or caregivers at home, their associated factors, and pediatric ME reporting systems. Citable original articles of any type of study design or reviews published from 2013 to 2021 were searched in Medline, Scopus, Embase, and ScienceDirect databases.

Expert opinion

The available data about the frequency of pediatric MEs at home varied from 30% to 80%. Current research suggests the risk of making a ME in pediatric patients at home may depend on the characteristics of the caregiver and may increase if a prescription contains ≥3 drugs. Findings conclude that providing dosing tools more closely matched to prescribed dose volumes, recommending the use of syringes as a measurement tool, and educational intervention for caregivers could be useful to reduce MEs. Concerning the reporting systems for pediatric MEs in the outpatient setting, no information was found.

KEYWORDS:

• Medication errors
• pediatrics
• child
• parents
• caregivers
• safety management

Article highlights

• The risk of making a medication error in pediatric patients at home may increase when the caregiver is a non-native speaker, a man and/or young.

• A prescription containing more than two drugs might affect the comprehension of medication instructions.

• To provide dosing tools more closely matched to prescribed dose volumes, to recommend the use of syringes as a measurement tool, and educational intervention for caregivers could be useful to reduce pediatric medication errors at home.

Authors’ contributions

MG and JJM contributed to the study conception and design. AL and MG performed the literature search. AL, MG, and JJM examined the papers and assessed study quality. AL, MG, JG, and GM extracted data from the identified articles. AL, MG, and JJM drafted the manuscript. All authors revised the manuscript critically for importance and approved the final to be published.

Declaration of interest

The authors have no relevant affiliations or financial involvement with any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript. This includes employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, or royalties.

Reviewer disclosures

Peer reviewers on this manuscript have no relevant financial or other relationships to disclose.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Ministry of innovation, universities, science and society of Valencia Region through a grant to emerging research groups [grant number GV/2019/040]. The funding source was not involved in this study.