[Self-medication in children by parents: a real risk? A cross-sectional descriptive study].
Self-medication is a common practice in France. What is parent's behaviour towards their children? Trying to draw an inventory of this practice, we carried out a survey of self-medication of children under 12 years of age by their parents. The main objective was to assess the frequency of self-medication and the secondary purposes were to describe habits, dangerous behaviours and common mistakes. The results speak for themselves: 96% of parents self-medicate their children, very early, between 6 and 24 months, mostly for mild pathologies; 39% believe they are taking a risk doing it; most frequently used medecines are paracetamol and ibubrofene; 55% of them make a mistake when self-medicating their children (21% combine two brands of paracetamol or two anti-inflammatories, 10% swap pipettes...). Mistakes revealed by this study could be the bases of an education program for parents displayed by GPs and health care workers.
Escourrou
Brigitte
B
Département universitaire de médecine générale, faculté de médecine de Toulouse, 31400 Toulouse. dr.escourrou@wanadoo.fr
Bouville
Bénédicte
B
Bismuth
Michel
M
Durrieu
Geneviève
G
Oustric
Stéphane
S
D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D012651:Self Medication / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires