Promoting Safe Use of Pediatric Liquid Medications

Variable and poor-quality drug labeling has been cited as a leading cause of medication errors and adverse drug events, especially in the context of low health literacy. This is a particularly important issue in pediatrics as more than half of US children are exposed to one or more outpatient medications in a given week, and studies suggest that over half of caregivers make errors when dosing liquid medications for children. Our study objective is to identify evidence-based strategies for labeling and dosing prescription and over-the-counter pediatric liquid medications in order to promote safe, appropriate use, as well as to inform state and federal policy standards. We hypothesize that a health literacy-informed labeling and dosing strategy will result in improved parent ability to administer medications prescribed to their young children.