Approximately 40 percent of parents aren't providing sick children with the correct medication dosage and it's likely due to the use of a kitchen teaspoon or tablespoon being used for measurement.
That's the reveal of a new study. The practice, researchers say, also doubles potential risk factors in treating an illness.
Study data claims incorrect medicine dosage has led to 10,000 calls to poison control centers each year. The study was published in the August issue of Pediatrics.
Several medical professional groups and organizations have been lobbying for a new medicine measurement standard, such as milliliter dosing.
"A move to a milliliter preference for dosing instructions for liquid medications could reduce parent confusion and decrease medication errors, especially for groups at risk for making errors, such as those with low health literacy and non-English speakers," said the study's lead author Dr. Shonna Yin, an assistant professor of pediatrics at NYU School of Medicine in New York City.
Yin and her research team decided to test whether a new medicine dosage approach is necessary. The study involved 287 parents administering medicine to children. Of the group, 39 percent were found to be incorrect in measuring over-the-counter medicine and 41 percent made an error in measuring out prescribed medicine.
Those using teaspoons and tablespoons are 2.3 times more likely to give a child the wrong dose and 1.9 times more likely to be inaccurate with a prescription.
The research team said parents should insist that doctors prescribe dosage in milliliters and learn how to use a dosing device, such as a dosing spoon or dropper. What many parents may not realize is that kitchen silverware teaspoons come in a variety of sizes, said co-author Dr. Ian Paul, associate vice chair for research at the Penn State College of Medicine's department of pediatrics.
"When you look at a kitchen spoon, the amount that will actually sit in the spoon is less likely to be exactly what it's meant to be," Paul said. "You're less likely to get the right amount onto that spoon and then deliver it to a child's mouth."
