Medication dosage errors – a common cause of poisoning in children.

According to the study “Poisoning due to medication dosing errors in Spain” by the Poisoning Working Group of the Spanish Society of Pediatric Emergencies, dosing errors are a common mechanism of poisoning in childhood.

The registry of pediatric emergency departments in Spain recorded 3,429 cases of exposure to toxic substances, of which 289 (8.4%) involved medication dosing errors, with the vast majority occurring in the home environment.

Seventy-eight (27.0%) occurred in children under 1 year of age (corresponding to 37.9% of poisonings in this age group and 85.0% of poisonings in infants under 3 months of age).

Overall, the most frequently involved medications were antipyretics/analgesics (35.6%, mainly paracetamol), with significant differences depending on the patients’ age. Forty-nine of the patients (17.0%) presented symptoms, 118 (41.8%) underwent additional tests, 83 (28.7%) received treatment, and 115 (39.8%) were admitted to the ED observation unit or hospital.

Medication dosing errors are a significant mechanism of poisoning, especially in children under 1 year of age. According to the research, preventive measures should be considered, aiming to educate families to avoid these poisonings.

To address the challenge of organizing medication intake, we created the RxNote Pharmaceutical Calendar – an innovative and simple way to indicate and adhere to medication regimens, which can contribute to the prevention of dosing errors.