Prescribing for children

Abstract

Prescribing medication for children requires extra caution compared to prescribing in adults as there are differences in pharmacokinetics in different age groups affecting the pharmacodynamics of drugs. There is a lack of new drug development trials in children due to ethical concerns about conducting trials and about recruitment. This leads to prescribing medication which is off-label or unlicensed and this needs to be explained to parents and children to gain informed consent and answer any queries. Palatability of a medicine plays a big role and can raise challenges for parents during administration. Techniques to aid administration such as masking the taste, using an oral syringe or giving a strongly flavoured food or drink after administration of medicine may be helpful.