Background: Special care should be given to high risk patients like children and elderly according to JCI standard COP.3. According to JCI Standard MMU.5.1, medication prescriptions or orders are reviewed for appropriateness. Weight based dosing is a critical elements of an appropriateness review.
Introduction: Pediatric patients are at a higher risk of experiencing medication errors than adults because of the need for a dose calculation. According to JCI Standard MMU.5.1, medication prescriptions or orders are reviewed for appropriateness and weight based dosing is a critical element of an appropriateness review.
Methodology: A prospective observational study on 53 pediatric patients was carried out in pediatric ward and ICU at Fortis Memorial Research Institute, Gurgaon from March 1 up to April 15, 2017.
Result: Out of 365 drugs prescribed, 119 were antimicrobials and 246 were other drugs. In 119 antimicrobial prescriptions, 96 were based on patient body weight and 23 were not weight based. In that 15 prescriptions were on overdose and 8 on under-dose. Overdose prescription mostly seen in Clindamycin and under-dose in Amikacin. In neurology department all the prescriptions are based on weight.
Conclusion: Lack of standard dosing guidelines can cause medication errors in pediatric patients. Proper weight estimation and documentation should be mandatory.
Impact Factor
2017: 6.614
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