Reuters Health, August 28, 2018.
(Reuters Health) – Nearly one in five American children use at least one prescription medication, and roughly one in 13 kids takes more than one prescription drug, according to a new study.
“Currently, adverse drug events are the leading cause of injuries and death among children and adolescents,” said the study’s lead author, Dima Qato, of the College of Pharmacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
““Parents need to ask their pharmacist or pediatrician about potential side effects and interactions associated with the medications their children are taking,” Qato said. “Prescribers also need to be aware and to be proactive and to ask their patients and their patients’ parents about the medications being taken.
Qato and her colleagues analyzed the medication use of 23,179 children and adolescents who were participants in the larger ongoing National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). For children under the age of 16, parents provided information on medication use. Those who were 16 or older answered for themselves.
The vast majority of potential drug-drug interactions involved antidepressants. The most common potential interaction was QT prolongation, an abnormal heart rhythm that can cause sudden death in otherwise healthy kids.
“QT could occur within days,” Qato said. “It can last more than a month after taking the drug. So even though a child may have used the drug for a week or a few weeks, the adverse effect can be a serious one.””