Medication Palatability Affects Physician Prescribing Preferences for Common Pediatric Conditions.
The objective of this study was to determine if physicians would alter their prescribing preferences after sampling liquid formulations of medications for common pediatric diagnoses.



This was a prospective interventional before/after study conducted at an academic medical center in the United States. The participants of interest included emergency, family medicine, and pediatric physicians. Participants initially completed a brief survey for their primary oral liquid medication of choice for the treatment of selected disease states. These included otitis media, sinusitis, cellulitis, asthma, colitis, and pneumonia. Participants were asked to choose one of the medication options for each disease and then were given all medications to sample for a taste test. The prescribing preference survey was then repeated. The primary outcome was change in prescribing. McNemar's test was used to evaluate change in proportion of medications chosen before and after taste testing.



There were 101 physicians who participated in the study. There were three conditions for which participants changed their prescribing preferences significantly. These were otitis media (change from amoxicillin to cefdinir, difference = 13.2%, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 5.5% to 21.0%), asthma exacerbation (change from dexamethasone or prednisone to prednisolone, 28%, 95% CI = 15.9% to 40.1%), and pneumonia (change from azithromycin to amoxicillin, 16.0%, 95% CI = 6.4% to 25.6%). There was no significant change with respect to the other scenarios.



Physicians showed preferences for certain pediatric medications based on taste and showed significant changes in prescribing preferences for some common pediatric diagnoses after tasting different medications for these conditions.
Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Hans
H
Bradshaw
Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.|Department of Emergency Medicine, Tucson Medical Center, Tucson, AZ.
Michael J
MJ
Mitchell
Department of Pharmacy Services, Banner-University Medical Center, Tucson, AZ.
Christopher J
CJ
Edwards
Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Uwe
U
Stolz
Department of Emergency Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.|Emergency Department, Oroville Hospital, Oroville, CA.
Oday
O
Naser
Department of Pharmacy Practice & Science, College of Pharmacy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.|Department of Pharmacy, Memorial Katy Hospital, Katy, TX.
Amanda
A
Peck
Department of Pharmacy Practice & Science, College of Pharmacy, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ.
Asad E
AE
Patanwala
D000284:Administration, Oral; D002648:Child; D065187:Controlled Before-After Studies; D004635:Emergency Medicine; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010372:Pediatrics; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055553:Prescription Drugs / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013649:Taste; D014481:United States
D055553:Prescription Drugs