TY - JOUR
T1 - Establishing dose bands for commonly prescribed oral medications for children in the UK
T2 - Results of a Delphi study
AU - Rashed, Asia N.
AU - Tomlin, Stephen
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Objective: To establish weight-based dose bands for commonly used oral medicines, given in liquid forms, for children in the UK that could be used for prescribing and administering accurate and safe drug doses. Methods: A list of commonly prescribed, oral liquid medications was established from the medication dispensing database of four UK hospitals and a primary care database. The evidence base of currently used dose regimens for each drug was identified from paediatric reference books, summary of product characteristics and the literature. Then, weight-based dose bands were developed and a modified Delphi process was used to achieve healthcare professional consensus about the suggested dose bands for each drug. Results: Forty-six experts in paediatric medicines participated in the Delphi process (mean years of experience 17.3 ± 9.4 [standard deviation]) and assessed 45 oral liquid drugs in total. Four categories of weight-based dose bands were established: drugs with two dose bands (17.8%, 8/45), drugs with three dose bands (64.4%, 29/45), drugs with four dose bands (15.6%, 7/45) and drugs with five dose bands (2.2%, 1/45). The 46 participants reached consensus on all the suggested dose bands for 53.3% (24/45) of the drugs. Consensus was reached in the first round of the Delphi process for 91.7% (22/24) of the drugs and after two rounds for two drugs. No agreement was achieved on any of the suggested dose bands for 26.7% (12/45) of the drugs. Conclusion: This study provides healthcare professionals with a set of recommended weight-based dose bands for commonly prescribed oral liquid drugs for children. These bands could establish the basis for change in clinical practice to reduce dosing errors and improve healthcare for children.
AB - Objective: To establish weight-based dose bands for commonly used oral medicines, given in liquid forms, for children in the UK that could be used for prescribing and administering accurate and safe drug doses. Methods: A list of commonly prescribed, oral liquid medications was established from the medication dispensing database of four UK hospitals and a primary care database. The evidence base of currently used dose regimens for each drug was identified from paediatric reference books, summary of product characteristics and the literature. Then, weight-based dose bands were developed and a modified Delphi process was used to achieve healthcare professional consensus about the suggested dose bands for each drug. Results: Forty-six experts in paediatric medicines participated in the Delphi process (mean years of experience 17.3 ± 9.4 [standard deviation]) and assessed 45 oral liquid drugs in total. Four categories of weight-based dose bands were established: drugs with two dose bands (17.8%, 8/45), drugs with three dose bands (64.4%, 29/45), drugs with four dose bands (15.6%, 7/45) and drugs with five dose bands (2.2%, 1/45). The 46 participants reached consensus on all the suggested dose bands for 53.3% (24/45) of the drugs. Consensus was reached in the first round of the Delphi process for 91.7% (22/24) of the drugs and after two rounds for two drugs. No agreement was achieved on any of the suggested dose bands for 26.7% (12/45) of the drugs. Conclusion: This study provides healthcare professionals with a set of recommended weight-based dose bands for commonly prescribed oral liquid drugs for children. These bands could establish the basis for change in clinical practice to reduce dosing errors and improve healthcare for children.
KW - children
KW - Delphi process
KW - dose bands
KW - paediatric medications
KW - weight-based dose bands
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85099309058&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1111/bcp.14698
DO - 10.1111/bcp.14698
M3 - Article
C2 - 33300160
AN - SCOPUS:85099309058
SN - 0306-5251
JO - British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
JF - British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology
ER -