What Doctors Don't Tell YouA recent small study in Atlanta, Georgia showed that many parents either do not know or do not fully understand the dosing instructions for children’s medicines.
One hundred caregivers (mostly mothers) were given a questionnaire and asked to measure out the amount of medication they would have given their child to reduce a fever. Only 30 per cent correctly stated and measured the dose. Interestingly, most of the errors had to do with underdosing. The study concludes that more explicit dosing instructions should be given to parents (Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med, 1997; 151: 654-6).
Daniel Redwood DC
Tom Ferguson MD
