Prescribing Antibiotics for Children or How to Read Pediatric Dosage Chart
Prescribing an antibiotic for a child requires extra steps as the strength of an antibiotic is determined by the weight of the child. Further, antibiotics can be prescribed within a range of strengths. The goal is to prescribe the correct strength based on the weight, diagnosis and treatment plan, and to do that consistantly between all prescribers and clinicians.
In 2013, the Journal of Pediatric Pharmacology and Therapeutics published a study entitled “The Impact of a Pediatric Antibiotic Standard Dosing Table on Dosing Errors”. Within this study, researchers found that in a retrospective study of 300 pediatric antibiotic prescriptions “that more than 30% of patients experienced a dose variation of +/-10% of the recommended daily dose. Further they also found when a standard dosing chart was utilized by prescribers , that dose/weight charts as part of a dosing standardation policy reduced the rate of dosing variations. In an analysis of over 600 pediatric antibiotic prescriptions written once a standardization policy was put on place, researchers found that prescribing variations went from 34.3% to 5.06% and weight documentation on the prescription increased from 65.8% to 85.7%.
Grand Medicine Pharmacy has developed a pediatric dosage chart by weight based on common treatment plans and using the most common antibiotics. This can be used as a model for other institutions to use to implement their own standardation policies for pediatric antibiotic prescribing.
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Parents can also use this chart to better understand the dosing choices made by a prescriber for their child. It is important to note that should a parent have any questions about the dosage of an antibiotic for their child they should contact their Pharmacist or Prescriber immediately.
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