ArticlePloS one2018
Defining pediatric polypharmacy: A scoping review.
Article in PloS one, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 39 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
39 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Effects of probiotic supplementation on abdominal pain severity in pediatric patients with irritable bowel syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials.World journal of pediatrics : WJP · 2022Pooled it
- Polypharmacy and Drug Interaction Risk in Children and Adolescents with Congenital Heart Defects: Insights from a Nationwide Survey.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Development of an Empirical Approach for the Prediction of Cytochrome P450-Based Drug-Drug Interactions in Pediatric Patients.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Psychotropic Polypharmacy and Related Factors in Children and Adolescents.Psychiatry investigation · 2025Article
- Early assessment of clinical complexity and home care in patients affected by trisomy 13 and 18.European journal of pediatrics · 2025Observational
- Polypharmacy in Pediatric Palliative Care: Exploring Discrepancies Between Physicians and Pharmacists.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Healthcare Utilization Among Youth with Chronic Illness Receiving Care at a Large Urban Academic Healthcare System.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Prevalence of contraindicated combinations amid behavioral and mental health medications filled in a pediatric population.BMC primary care · 2024Observational
- Polypharmacy in Children with Medical Complexity: A Cross-Sectional Study in a Pediatric Palliative Care Center.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Review
- Polypharmacy among medicaid-insured children with and without documented obesity.Pharmacotherapy · 2023Article
- Prescribed psychotropic medication patterns among treated Foster Care enrollees: a single institution study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
- Trajectories of medication use and polypharmacy among children with cerebral palsy.Journal of managed care & specialty pharmacy · 2023Article
- Psychotropic Medication Monitoring in a Human Services Organization for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Description and Evaluation of Interdisciplinary Team Review.Behavior analysis in practice · 2022Article
- Article
- Evaluation of rational prescribing in a hospital paediatric outpatient clinic in Nigeria.BMJ paediatrics open · 2022Observational
- Core concepts in pharmacoepidemiology: Measures of drug utilization based on individual-level drug dispensing data.Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety · 2022Review
- Pediatric Psychotropic Polypharmacy: An Evaluation of the Correlates and Prevalence Across Assessment Cycles in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.Journal of child and adolescent psychopharmacology · 2022Article
- A Snapshot of Potentially Inappropriate Prescriptions upon Pediatric Discharge in Oman.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- The effect of polypharmacy on quality of life in adult patients with nonalcoholic fatty liver disease in the United States.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2022Observational
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
14 authors at 8 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesLack of consensus regarding the semantics and definitions of pediatric polypharmacy challenges researchers and clinicians alike. We conducted a scoping review to describe definitions and terminology of pediatric polypharmacy.
methodsMedline, PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane CENTRAL, and the Web of Science Core Collection databases were searched for English language articles with the concepts of "polypharmacy" and "children". Data were extracted about study characteristics, polypharmacy terms and definitions from qualifying studies, and were synthesized by disease conditions.
resultsOut of 4,398 titles, we included 363 studies: 324 (89%) provided numeric definitions, 131 (36%) specified duration of polypharmacy, and 162 (45%) explicitly defined it. Over 81% (n = 295) of the studies defined polypharmacy as two or more medications or therapeutic classes. The most common comprehensive definitions of pediatric polypharmacy included: two or more concurrent medications for ≥1 day (n = 41), two or more concurrent medications for ≥31 days (n = 15), and two or more sequential medications over one year (n = 12). Commonly used terms included polypharmacy, polytherapy, combination pharmacotherapy, average number, and concomitant medications. The term polypharmacy was more common in psychiatry literature while epilepsy literature favored the term polytherapy.
conclusionsTwo or more concurrent medications, without duration, for ≥1 day, ≥31 days, or sequentially for one year were the most common definitions of pediatric polypharmacy. We recommend that pediatric polypharmacy studies specify the number of medications or therapeutic classes, if they are concurrent or sequential, and the duration of medications. We propose defining pediatric polypharmacy as "the prescription or consumption of two or more distinct medications for at least one day". The term "polypharmacy" should be included among key words and definitions in manuscripts.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.