title: Acetaminophen administration in pediatric age: an observational prospective cross-sectional study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Parents often do not consider fever as an important physiological response and mechanism of defense against infections that leads to inappropriate use of antipyretics and potentially dangerous side effects. This study is designed to evaluate the appropriateness of antipyretics dosages generally administered to children with fever, and to identify factors that may influence dosage accuracy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In this cross-sectional study we analyzed the clinical records of 1397 children aged >1 month and < 16 years, requiring a primary care (ambulatory) outpatient visit due to fever. We evaluated the number of children who had received >90 mg/kg/day of acetaminophen, the prescriber, the medication formula and the educational level of the caregiver who administered acetaminophen. Among those children included in our study, 74 % were administered acetaminophen for body temperature ≤ 38.4 °C. 24.12 % of children received >90 mg/kg/day of acetaminophen. Parents with university qualifications most commonly self-administered acetaminophen to their children, in a higher than standard dose. Self medication was also described in 60 % of children, whose acetaminophen was administered for temperatures < 38 °C. Acetaminophen over-dosage was also favored by the use of drug formulations as drops or syrup.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study shows that preventive action should be taken regarding the use of acetaminophen as antipyretic drug in children in order to reduce the fever phobia and self-prescription, especially of caregivers with higher educational levels. It is also necessary to promote a more appropriate use of acetaminophen in those parents using drops or syrup formulations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, La Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. riccardo.lubrano@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Riccardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lubrano
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, La Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. sara.paoli@hotmail.it.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Paoli
authors.affiliation: Paediatrics Operative Unit, Grassi Hospital, Rome, Italy. bonci.marco@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Bonci
authors.affiliation: Paediatrics Operative Unit, Policlinico Umberto I, Frosinone, Italy. luidir@alice.it.
authors.forename: Luigi
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Di Ruzza
authors.affiliation: Acute and Emergency Operative Unit, Bambino Gesù Paediatric Hospital, Rome, Italy. corrado.cecchetti@opbg.net.
authors.forename: Corrado
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cecchetti
authors.affiliation: General Paediatrics and Acute and Emergency Paediatrics Operative Unit, Vittorio Emanuele University Hospital, Catania, Italy. r.falsaperla@ao-ve.it.
authors.forename: Raffaele
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Falsaperla
authors.affiliation: General Paediatrics and Acute and Emergency Paediatrics Operative Unit, Vittorio Emanuele University Hospital, Catania, Italy. ppavone@unict.it.
authors.forename: Piero
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pavone
authors.affiliation: University Medical Science of Teheran, University of Teheran, Teheran, Italy. nsmatn@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Nassim
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Matin
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, La Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. giovitaliti@yahoo.it.|AOU Policlinico-OVE, University of Catania, Via Plebiscito n. 628, 95100, Catania, Italy. giovitaliti@yahoo.it.
authors.forename: Giovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vitaliti
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, La Sapienza University of Rome, Rome, Italy. isottagentile@libero.it.
authors.forename: Isotta
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Gentile
mesh_terms: D000082:Acetaminophen / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D000082:Acetaminophen