Opioid Prescribing and Potential Overdose Errors Among Children 0 to 36 Months Old. (July 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Basco, William T.; Ebeling, Myla; Garner, Sandra S.; Hulsey, Thomas C.; Simpson, Kit
• Is Part Of: Clinical pediatrics. Volume 54:Number 8(2015)
• Page Start: 738
• Page End: 744
• Publication Date: 2015-07
• Subjects: child -- children -- medication errors -- overdose -- patient safety; Pediatrics -- Periodicals; 618.920005
• DOI: 10.1177/0009922815586050
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0009-9228

Abstract

Objective . To estimate the frequency of potential overdoses among outpatient opioid-containing prescriptions. Method . Using 11 years of outpatient Medicaid prescription data, we compared opioid dose dispensed (observed) versus expected dose to estimate overdose error frequencies. A potential overdose was defined as any preparation dispensed that was >110% of expected based on imputed, 97th percentile weights. Results . There were 59 536 study drug prescriptions to children 0 to 36 months old. Overall, 2.7% of the prescriptions contained potential overdose quantities, and the average excess amount dispensed was 48% above expected. Younger ages were associated with higher frequencies of potential overdose. For example, 8.9% of opioid prescriptions among infants 0 to 2 months contained potential overdose quantities, compared with 5.7% among infants 3 to 5 months old, 3.6% among infants 6 to 11 months old, and 2.3% among children >12 months ( P < .0001). Conclusions . Opioid prescriptions for infants and children routinely contained potential overdose quantities.