paracetamol use (andor misuse) in children in enugu, south-east, nigeria扑热息痛在埃努古使用儿童(和或滥用),尼日利亚东南部.pdf

Obu et al. BMC Pediatrics 2012, 12:103 /1471-2431/12/103 RESEARCH ARTICLE Open Access Paracetamol use (and/or misuse) in children in Enugu, South-East, Nigeria 1* 1 1 1 2 Herbert A Obu , Josephat M Chinawa , Agozie C Ubesie , Christopher B Eke and Ikenna K Ndu Abstract Background: Paracetamol (also known as acetaminophen) is the commonest available analgesic and anti-pyretic. It is readily accessed from pharmacy, patent medicine and provision shops as over the counter drug making it a potential drug of abuse, especially in children. We sought to find its use and/or misuse in children seen at the paediatric outpatient clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH) Ituku-Ozalla, Enugu. Objective: To determine the dosage, formulation, and frequency of paracetamol administration to children by caregivers and factors associated with its use and/or misuse. Method: An observational prospective study involving 231 children and their caregivers seen at the paediatric outpatient clinic of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital, Ituku - Ozalla, Enugu between June and November 2011 was undertaken. Data on paracetamol use before presentation to the clinic, in addition to demographic and other data were obtained from the caregivers using a structured questionnaire. Ethical consent for the study was obtained from the Hospital Ethics and Research Committee and informed consent was further obtained from the caregivers of the children. Results: A total of 231 children aged six weeks to 16 years and their caregivers participated in this study. The mean ages of the children and their caregivers were 3.8 and 33.9 years, respectively. One hundred and thirty three of the chil