Assessment of anti-infective medication adherence in pediatric outpatients

Eur J Pediatr. 2020 Sep;179(9):1343-1351. doi: 10.1007/s00431-020-03605-8. Epub 2020 Mar 5.

Abstract

The objective of this pilot study was to assess the overall adherence rate of the pediatric population to anti-infective drugs prescribed for acute infection at hospital discharge and to identify risk factors for non-adherence behavior. Pediatric patients discharged from a French university hospital with at least one oral drug prescription for acute infection were included for 3 months. Medication adherence and antibiotic knowledge were assessed through data collected by calling the parents. Overall adherence was assessed according to seven items: medication order filling, administered dose, time of intake, frequency of doses, medication omission, dose modification, and length of treatment. Seventy-five patients were included, and 63 interviews were exploited. The median age was 1.4 years, IQR = [0.7; 3.3]. Overall adherence to anti-infective agents concerned 34.9% of patients. The most frequently prescribed antibiotics were amoxicillin (29.3%), amoxicillin associated with clavulanic acid (25.3%), cotrimoxazole (18.7%), and cefixime (12.0%). A lack of parents' anti-infective knowledge was associated with non-adherence to anti-infective drugs.Conclusion: Two-thirds of outpatients were non-adherent to anti-infectives in acute infectious diseases. The misunderstanding of anti-infective treatment could be a risk factor for non-adherence. Implementation of preventive actions such as therapeutic education or pharmaceutical counseling at hospital discharge could improve adherence to anti-infective agents. What Is Known: • Non-adherence to anti-infective drugs involves the emergence and spread of antibiotic resistance. • Very few studies have assessed medication adherence in acute infectious diseases in pediatrics after hospital discharge. What Is New: • Only 35% of children were overall adherent to anti-infective drugs in acute infectious disease after hospital discharge. • Most patients (89%) had a good primary adherence but very few (40%) had good secondary adherence mainly due to dose omission and dose modification.

Keywords: Anti-infective agents; Infectious diseases; Medication adherence; Outpatient monitoring; Pediatric.

MeSH terms

  • Anti-Infective Agents* / therapeutic use
  • Child
  • Humans
  • Infant
  • Medication Adherence
  • Outpatients
  • Pediatrics*
  • Pilot Projects

Substances

  • Anti-Infective Agents