title: Use of active ingredient information for low socioeconomic status parents' decision-making regarding cough and cold medications: role of health literacy.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Parent administration of multiple medications with overlapping active ingredients places children at risk for overdose. We sought to examine how parents use active ingredient information as part of the process of selecting a cough/cold medication for their child and how health literacy plays a role.
  
  
  METHODS
  Experimental study of parents of children presenting for care in an urban public hospital pediatric clinic. Parents were asked to determine which of 3 cough/cold medications could be given to relieve a child's cold symptoms, as part of a scenario in which they had already given a dose of acetaminophen; only 1 did not contain acetaminophen. Primary dependent variable: correct selection of cough/cold medication by using active ingredient as the rationale for choice. Primary independent variable: parent health literacy (Newest Vital Sign test).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 297 parents, 79.2% had low health literacy (Newest Vital Sign score 0-3); 35.4% correctly chose the cough/cold medication that did not contain acetaminophen. The proportion of those who made the correct choice was no different than expected from chance alone (Goodness of fit test; χ(2) = 2.1, P = .3). Only 7.7% chose the correct medication and used active ingredient as the rationale. Those with adequate literacy skills were more likely to have selected the correct medication and rationale (25.8% vs 3.0% (P = .001); adjusted odds ratio 11.1 (95% confidence interval 3.6-33.7), after we adjusted for sociodemographics, including English proficiency and education.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Many parents, especially those with low health literacy, do not use active ingredient information as part of decision-making related to administering multiple medications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, New York University School of Medicine and Bellevue Hospital Center, New York, NY 10016, USA. yinh02@med.nyu.edu
authors.forename: H Shonna
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Yin
authors.forename: Alan L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Mendelsohn
authors.forename: Perry
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Nagin
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: van Schaick
authors.forename: Maria E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Cerra
authors.forename: Benard P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Dreyer
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000328:Adult; D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002648:Child; D003139:Common Cold / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003371:Cough / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003657:Decision Making; D004348:Drug Labeling; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D057220:Health Literacy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008508:Medication Errors / Q000517:prevention & control; D057985:Multi-Ingredient Cold, Flu, and Allergy Medications / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010290:Parents / Q000193:education*; D063046:Patient Medication Knowledge; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D018712:Analgesics, Non-Narcotic; D057985:Multi-Ingredient Cold, Flu, and Allergy Medications; D004366:Nonprescription Drugs; D000082:Acetaminophen