Improving knowledge on safe medication management of inpatient children and adolescents: a pre-post study.

Abstract

The primary aim of this study was to assess the impact of an education intervention on knowledge regarding medication use in hospitalized children and adolescents. A pre-post multicentre study was conducted in pediatric wards of the hospitals in Lazio Region between July 2019-March 2021. An in-person education intervention was provided to hospitalized patients aged 6-15 years, able to understand spoken and written Italian language. Topics included: correct intake and management of medications at home. Prior and after the education intervention, we evaluated patient knowledge with a self-administered test. One-hundred-and-four (n = 104) patients participated in the study. In the pre-education period, 79.8% of the patients answered correctly to at least 60% of the questions of the test; the lowest number of correct answers concerned medication intake (36.5%; 33.6%), food-drug interactions (44.2%), appropriate indication to use of antibiotics (36.5%) and antibiotic resistance (55.8%). After the education intervention, 100% of the patients completed the test correctly. The education intervention increased knowledge on several areas of interest, in children of different age-groups and including patients with chronic diseases. Children's education is essential to encourage gradual transfer of responsibility for medication use, in ways that respect parental responsibilities and the health status and capabilities of the child.