ArticleEuropean journal of clinical pharmacology2010
Off-label antibiotic use in children in three European countries.
Article in European journal of clinical pharmacology, 2010. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Antimicrobial-associated adverse events in neonates: an integrated literature review and FAERS pharmacovigilance analysis.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Review
- Polypharmacy in Children with Medical Complexity: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Pediatric Palliative Care Center.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Genetic Variations and Antibiotic-Related Adverse Events.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Impact of Pharmacogenomics in Clinical Practice.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Biomarkers of Neonatal Sepsis: Where We Are and Where We Are Going.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Off-label antibiotic use among paediatric in-patients: a mixed-method prospective study at a tertiary hospital in southwestern Uganda.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2021Article
- Exploratory Findings of Prescribing Unlicensed and Off-Label Medicines Among Children and Neonates.Integrated pharmacy research & practice · 2020Article
- Off-label use of tamoxifen in a Chinese tertiary care hospital.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2019Article
- Off-label drug use in hospitalized children: a prospective observational study at Gondar University Referral Hospital, Northwestern Ethiopia.Pharmacology research & perspectives · 2017Article
- Pediatric fluoroquinolone prescription in South Korea before and after a regulatory intervention: A nationwide study, 2007-2015.PloS one · 2017Article
- Using a simple point-prevalence survey to define appropriate antibiotic prescribing in hospitalised children across the UK.BMJ open · 2016Article
- Off-label and unlicensed drug treatments in Neonatal Intensive Care Units: an Italian multicentre study.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2016Article
- High variability in the dosing of commonly used antibiotics revealed by a Europe-wide point prevalence study: implications for research and dissemination.BMC pediatrics · 2015Article
- Evaluation of antibiotic prescription in the Lebanese community: a pilot study.Infection ecology & epidemiology · 2015Article
- Off-label medicine use in children and adolescents: results of a population-based study in Germany.BMC public health · 2013Article
- Off-label prescribing patterns of antiemetics in children: a multicenter study in Italy.European journal of pediatrics · 2013Article
- Use of linezolid in neonatal and pediatric inpatient facilities--results of a retrospective multicenter survey.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2012Article
- Decrease of antibiotic consumption in children with upper respiratory tract infections after implementation of an intervention program in Cyprus.Antimicrobial agents and chemotherapy · 2012Article
- Drug utilisation pattern and off-label use of medicines in Estonian neonatal units.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2011Article
- Perceptions and attitudes of Jordanian paediatricians towards off-label paediatric prescribing.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2011Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
7 authors at 5 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveAntibiotics are the drugs most frequently prescribed for children, and most of them lack patent protection. The aim of this study was to evaluate off-label antibiotic use in three European countries.
methodsData relating to all patients admitted to the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and paediatric wards of the participating centres were collected by the same investigator over a 2-week survey period between February and May 2009. The data included age, date of birth, weight, relevant medical history and diagnosis, together with details of all of the antibiotics prescribed (compound, route of administration, dose, and indication for use).
resultsThe study involved 616 children (110 admitted to NICUs: 62 in the UK, 38 in Italy and 10 in Greece; 506 admitted to general paediatric wards: 265 in the UK, 94 in Italy and 147 in Greece). A total of 1,244 antibiotic prescriptions were issued (290 in NICUs and 954 in paediatric wards). The results showed that off-label antibiotic use is very common among European paediatric patients, with generally only slight, but sometimes significant differences between countries. However, this use relates almost exclusively to doses and indications, and rarely to age. The only antibiotics found to be used off-label in an age-related manner in paediatric clinical practice are meropenem for neonates and quinolones or linezolid for older children, which represent priorities for future studies.
conclusionEuropean-wide educational programmes are urgently needed to meet the objectives of improving paediatricians' working knowledge of the recommendations surrounding licensed antibiotics-use in children, and of reducing uncontrolled patterns of prescribing.
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