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Trends in Outpatient Prescription Medicine Use in New Zealand Children 2010–2015: A National Population-Based Study

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An Editorial to this article was published on 23 August 2018

Abstract

Background

Research examining trends in the outpatient prescription medicine use of New Zealand children is limited.

Objectives

Our objective was to provide an overview of prescription medicine use in New Zealand children and assess changing patterns in use from 2010 to 2015.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective cohort study including all New Zealand primary care-registered children aged < 18 years using data from the national pharmaceutical claims database. We calculated the prevalence of use within four age groups in each year by anatomical therapeutic class, therapeutic group and drug. Rate ratios were calculated to compare the prevalence of use in 2010 and 2015.

Results

In total, 1,496,026 children with a mean of 2.7 years of potential drug exposure were included. The overall prevalence of drug use was 70% in 2010 and 73% in 2015. In 2015, medicine use was highest in children aged < 2 years (90%) and lowest in children aged 12–17 years (65%). Antibacterials, analgesics, topical corticosteroids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and antihistamines were the most widely used medicines. The prevalence of use of systemic and topical antibiotics decreased by 2 and 10%, respectively, between 2010 and 2015, but there was increased use of analgesics (10%), NSAIDs (39%), antihistamines (15%) and antinausea and vertigo agents (306%).

Conclusions

Our findings indicate areas for further research focusing on inappropriate prescribing to children and safety issues in children’s medicine use. Monitoring changing patterns of use over time is important for the evaluation of effective therapies in children and any potential harmful consequences of prescribing.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Best Practice Advocacy Centre, Dunedin, 9016, New Zealand

    Andrew M. Tomlin, David J. Woods, Hywel S. Lloyd & Murray W. Tilyard

  2. Dunedin School of Pharmacy, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    David J. Woods

  3. Department of General Practice and Rural Health, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand

    Hywel S. Lloyd & Murray W. Tilyard

Authors
  1. Andrew M. Tomlin
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  2. David J. Woods
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  3. Hywel S. Lloyd
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  4. Murray W. Tilyard
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrew M. Tomlin.

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Conflicts of Interest

AM Tomlin, DJ Woods, HS Lloyd and MW Tilyard have no conflicts of interest with regard to this study.

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. It was conducted as a component of the usual employment of the authors.

Ethical Approval

In New Zealand ethics committee review is not required for secondary use of data for the purpose of quality assurance or outcome analysis where the researchers are bound by a professional or employment obligation to preserve confidentiality and the patient information is not identifiable. Ethical guidelines for observational studies: National Ethics Advisory Committee. http://www.neac.health.govt.nz/

Additional information

An Editorial referring to this article is available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s40272-018-0308-y.

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Tomlin, A.M., Woods, D.J., Lloyd, H.S. et al. Trends in Outpatient Prescription Medicine Use in New Zealand Children 2010–2015: A National Population-Based Study. Pediatr Drugs 20, 465–474 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40272-018-0303-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40272-018-0303-3

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