[Medicinal drug use by children].

Drug consumption as an expression of behaviour in good and ill-health shows important aspects of a given population demand behavior in respect of medical goods and services. Therefore, in cooperation with public health services, we carried out a cross-sectional study during 1993 pre-school examinations in the district of Hannover with 4.722 children to investigate their parents' behaviour on drug administration. The aim of this study was to analyse the parents' willingness to give drugs to their children according to specific diseases and disabilities. About 10% of the children were consuming drugs at the time of the investigation. 71% of parents intended to support children with drugs in case of complaints due to illness. More drug consumption was found in single child families, in families with a higher socio-economic status, in families with occupations related to medicine, and in mothers with both occupational and family obligations. The results may be interpreted in terms of a common, socially determined pattern. Parents with special occupational and family obligations tend to be more willing to give their children drugs to react and cope with the situation and their own arodeties.