Almazrou Saja, Alsahly Hind, Alwattar Huda, Alturki Lamya, Alamri Mona
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Drug Healthc Patient Saf. 2014 Dec 22;7:1-6. doi: 10.2147/DHPS.S72315. eCollection 2015.
Most liquid medications are packaged with administration devices, which may be used inappropriately or inaccurately, and sometimes are not used at all. Because of the importance of their proper use for children's health, this study was designed to assess Saudi mothers' experiences with measuring cups, syringes, and droppers for oral liquid medications; to compare accuracy of dosing across these devices; and to determine the effects of mothers' education statuses and pharmacist counseling on dosing accuracy.
This was a cross-sectional study in which mothers were observed as they used a set of commonly available dosing devices which are a dosing cup, syringe, and dropper. Interviews were conducted in the outpatient pharmacy waiting area in several tertiary hospitals and primary clinics in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia between March and April 2013. Saudi women who were mothers of children aged 12 years old or younger and who gave their consent were eligible. Caregivers other than mothers and subjects with vision problems or cognitive/physical disabilities were excluded. We gathered demographic information such as age, number of children, and education status. Subjects were asked if they had had counseling on how to use measuring devices and which device they preferred. Then, the mothers were required to demonstrate how to measure 5 mL of paracetamol (acetaminophen) syrup using a cup and a syringe and 1 mL of paracetamol syrup using a dropper. Dosing errors were evaluated visually as overdosing, underdosing, or no error (if the dose was accurate). The data were entered into Microsoft Excel and evaluated using Stata 11.1. Logistic regression was employed to determine relationships.
The results revealed that 58% of participants measured an accurate dose of paracetamol using the oral dosing syringe versus 50% of participants using the dropper and 51% using the dosing cup. In general, participants measured more than the intended dose with the dosing cup and less than the intended dose with the dropper. Furthermore, we found that dosing accuracy for each type of instrument was significantly influenced by the mothers' education status. Among the study participants, 77% had not had previous counseling on the use of liquid medication measuring devices. However, dosing errors were not affected by previous counseling.
Among mothers using measuring devices, the most accurate doses were found to be measured with the use of the oral syringe, whereas the most errors were made with the use of the dropper. Moreover, education status had a significant effect on dosing errors. The use of a pictographic diagram could improve the mothers' dosing abilities and, thus, reduce dosing errors.
大多数液体药物都配有给药装置，这些装置可能使用不当或不准确，有时甚至根本不被使用。由于正确使用这些装置对儿童健康至关重要，本研究旨在评估沙特母亲使用量杯、注射器和滴管给儿童口服液体药物的经历；比较这些装置给药的准确性；并确定母亲的教育程度和药剂师咨询对给药准确性的影响。
这是一项横断面研究，观察母亲们使用一套常用的给药装置，即量杯、注射器和滴管。2013年3月至4月期间，在沙特阿拉伯利雅得的几家三级医院和基层诊所的门诊药房等候区进行了访谈。年龄在12岁及以下儿童的母亲且同意参与的沙特女性符合条件。排除母亲以外的照顾者以及有视力问题或认知/身体残疾的受试者。我们收集了年龄、子女数量和教育程度等人口统计学信息。询问受试者是否接受过关于如何使用测量装置的咨询以及她们更喜欢哪种装置。然后，要求母亲们演示如何用量杯和注射器量取5毫升对乙酰氨基酚糖浆，以及如何用滴管量取1毫升对乙酰氨基酚糖浆。通过视觉评估给药误差，分为用药过量、用药不足或无误差（如果剂量准确）。数据录入Microsoft Excel并使用Stata 11.1进行评估。采用逻辑回归确定关系。
结果显示，58%的参与者使用口服给药注射器量取了准确剂量的对乙酰氨基酚，而使用滴管的参与者为50%，使用量杯的参与者为51%。总体而言，参与者用量杯量取的剂量超过预期剂量，用滴管量取的剂量低于预期剂量。此外，我们发现每种仪器的给药准确性受母亲教育程度的显著影响。在研究参与者中，77%以前没有接受过关于使用液体药物测量装置的咨询。然而，给药误差不受以前咨询的影响。
在使用测量装置的母亲中，发现使用口服注射器量取的剂量最准确，而使用滴管产生的误差最大。此外
