Treatment Harms in Paediatric Primary Care

David M. Reith (), Sharon Leitch, Kyle Eggleton, Katharine Wallis, Steven Lillis, Martyn Williamson and Wayne Cunningham
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David M. Reith: Dean’s Department, Otago Medical School, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
Sharon Leitch: Department of General Practice and Rural Health, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
Kyle Eggleton: Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Katharine Wallis: Mayne Academy of General Practice, Medical School, The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4067, Australia
Steven Lillis: Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland 1010, New Zealand
Martyn Williamson: Department of General Practice and Rural Health, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin 9016, New Zealand
Wayne Cunningham: Independent Researcher, Upper Hutt 5018, New Zealand

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 14, 1-10

Abstract: The aim of this study was to describe the epidemiology in children of harms detectable from general practice records, and to identify risk factors. The SHARP study examined 9076 patient records from 44 general practices in New Zealand, with an enrolled population of 210,559 patients. “Harm” was defined as disease, injury, disability, suffering, and death, arising from the health system. The age group studied was ≤20 years of age. There were 193 harms to 141 children and adolescents during the 3-year study period. Harms were reported in one (3.5%) patient aged <2 years, 80 (6.6%) aged 2 to <12 years, 36 (4.9%) aged 12 to <18 years, and 24 (7.5%) aged 18 to ≤20 years. The annualised rates of harm were 36/1000 child and adolescent population for all harms, 20/1000 for medication-related harm (MRH), 2/1000 for severe MRH, and 0.4/1000 for hospitalisation. For MRH, the drug groups most frequently involved were anti-infectives (51.9%), genitourinary (15.4%), dermatologicals (12.5%), and the nervous system (9.6%). Treatment-related harm in children was less common than in a corresponding adult population. MRH was the most common type of harm and was related to the most common treatments used. The risk of harm increased with the number of consultations.

Keywords: drug utilisation; paediatric; adolescent; harm; general practice (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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