Observational studyBMC pediatrics2018
Drug utilization in neonatal setting of Pakistan: focus on unlicensed and off label drug prescribing.
Observational study in BMC pediatrics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
What it found
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 24 citations in OpenAlex.
- Off-Label Medication Use in a Serbian Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Single-Center Retrospective Cohort Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- A Quantitative Review of Un-licensed and Off-label Medicines Use in Children Aged 0-2 Years in the Private Sector in South Africa: Extent, Challenges, and Implications.Current pediatric reviews · 2026Article
- Off-label use of Avastin in Pakistan: Lessons from the 2023 Punjab outbreak.Journal of public health research · 2025Article
- Trends in Proton Pump Inhibitor Use in Sweden by Sex and Age: A Drug Utilisation Study.Drug safety · 2025Article
- Off‑label and unapproved pediatric drug utilization: A meta‑analysis.Experimental and therapeutic medicine · 2024Article
- Off-Label Prescribing in Pediatric Population-Literature Review for 2012-2022.Pharmaceutics · 2023Review
- Off-Label and Unlicenced Medicine Use among Hospitalised Children in South Africa: Practice and Policy Implications.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Pediatric Off-Label COVID-19 Vaccination: The Concerns of Healthcare Professionals in Pakistan.Vaccines · 2022Article
- Gaps in Accessibility of Pediatric Formulations: A Cross-Sectional Observational Study of a Teaching Hospital in Northern Thailand.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Patterns and Predictors of Off-Label Drug Prescribing in Psychiatric Practice: A Qualitative Study.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
- Extent, reasons and consequences of off-labeled and unlicensed drug prescription in hospitalized children: a narrative review.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2021Review
- Review of Drug Utilization Studies in Neonatal Units: A Global Perspective.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Review
- Off-label and unlicensed drug use in Ayder comprehensive specialized hospital neonatal intensive care unit.Italian journal of pediatrics · 2020Article
- Current practice and awareness of pediatric off-label drug use in Shanghai, China -a questionnaire-based study.BMC pediatrics · 2019Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUnlicensed and off label drug use is an issue recognized worldwide in pediatric pharmacotherapy. The study was designed to assess the prevalence and predictors of unlicensed and off label drug use in neonatal population of Pakistan.
methodA prospective, observation study was conducted in nursery units at pediatric department of four tertiary care hospitals during the 1 year. Micromedex DRUGDEX was used to evaluate the case notes of 1300 patients. Logistic regression was employed to calculate the odds ratio for the predictors of unlicensed and off label drug use.
resultsA total of 1300 patients were included in this study who were treated with 52 different drugs. The prevalence of off label drug use was higher (52.14%) as compared to unlicensed drug use (33.35%). Dose (61.29%) and indication (13.68%) were the most frequent reasons for off label prescribing. In comparison to the corresponding reference categories, females and preterm infants were less likely to receive unlicensed prescriptions. While patients staying at hospital more than 5 days and infants receiving 3 or more medications were significantly more likely to receive unlicensed prescriptions. Moreover, in comparison to the corresponding reference categories, females were less likely to receive off label prescriptions while infants receiving 3 or more medications were 7 times more likely to receive off label prescriptions.
conclusionThe significant prevalence of unlicensed and off label drug prescriptions was found in neonatal population of Pakistan. The findings imply that more data on prevalence of unlicensed and off label prescriptions are required to provide a better picture of pediatric therapy in developing countries. Furthermore, advance formulations with new dosing in pediatrics is also necessary to minimize the risk of adverse drug events.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.