title: Vitamin use among children attending a Canadian pediatric emergency department.
abstract: Increasing use of vitamins has been documented worldwide in children and adolescents, and potential for vitamin-drug interactions exists. The aim of this study was to identify vitamin use by children visiting a pediatric emergency department (ED). A survey of parents and/or patients 0-18 years was conducted at a large pediatric ED in Canada. A total of 1804 families were interviewed. The main outcome measure was prevalence of vitamin use by children in the preceding 3 months. A third (32.3%) of the patients in our cohort had used vitamins in the preceding 3 months, and 48% of them were taking vitamins daily. Over 8% of all children used vitamins within the last 24 h. The use of vitamins was higher with older patient and parental age (P<0.001), chronic patient illness (P<0.001), completed immunization (P<0.001), concurrent patient use of prescribed medications (P=0.02), higher parental education (P<0.01), and English as a primary language spoken at home (P=0.002). Prevalence of vitamin use among children in the ED is 32% in the preceding 3 months and 8% within the last 24 h. In light of these findings, pediatricians should ask about vitamin use and discuss with parents potential interactions and possible adverse effects.
authors.affiliation: Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, BC Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Child & Family Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada. rgoldman@cw.bc.ca
authors.forename: Ran D
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Goldman
authors.forename: Sunita
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vohra
authors.forename: Alexander L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Rogovik
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002170:Canada; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004347:Drug Interactions; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D014815:Vitamins / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D014815:Vitamins