39 KiDSafe – improving medication safety for children and adolescents: implementation and evaluation of a new form of care

• Published in: Archives of disease in childhood Vol. 108; no. 6; p. A13
• Main Authors: Toni, Irmgard, Malonga Makosi, Dorothée, König, Jochem, Urschitz, Michael S, Rascher, Wolfgang, Neubert, Antje
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 01.06.2023
• ISSN: 0003-9888; 1468-2044
• DOI: 10.1136/archdischild-2023-ESDPPP.39

Introduction Drug therapy in paediatrics is often associated with uncertainties due to the lack of data from clinical trials, and thus the need for off-label use, but also missing paediatric dosage forms. The KiDSafe project aimed to significantly improve the existing shortfall by introducing a structured treatment procedure (PaedPharm). Methods PaedPharm consists of three modules: 1. a digital paediatric drug information system (PaedAMIS), 2. paediatric-pharmacological quality circles (PaedZirk) and 3. a system for reporting of ADRs/MEs in the paediatric population (PaedReport). By using a stepped-wedge design, PaedPharm was implemented in 12 territorial clusters, each involving a children’s hospital and surrounding outpatient paediatricians and psychiatrists. The primary aim of the study was to reduce the prevalence of drug-related hospital admissions by one third. In addition, qualitative and quantitative analysis concerning the quality of the implementation and acceptance of the intervention was performed. Results A total of 41829 patient cases were recorded in the participating hospitals, of which 5101 admissions could be assigned to the participating doctors (n=152). Under control conditions, a population-based mean of 4.14% of the admissions were due to an ADR or ME. Under intervention, however, it was 3.07% (OR 0.73 (95% CI 0.39 to 1.37), p>0.05). The PaedAMIS database was well accepted and PaedZirk achieved a particular high level of acceptance. Conclusions Structured, evidence-based drug information in combination with teaching may improve the quality of drug therapy in children. The number of participating paediatricians as well as the COVID pandemic hampered the results of this study. Thus, further studies are needed to confirm our results.