1. Background
The use of proper medications, as an important issue in medicine, has been noticed over time. As it is not usually followed up by a physician or pharmacist, a patient’s precise awareness of how to use the medications is important. Consumption of medications varies based on people’s tastes (1). In the meantime, children are more likely to be bothered by different medications than others (2, 3).
Also, parents may have inappropriate behaviors such as crushing the tablet and mixing it with food and juice to make the child more comfortable with their medications (4). A group of parents also thinks that children are small adults to whom adult medications can be prescribed in lower doses. Some of them use different medications for their children without information about the complications of these drugs (5, 6). Alternatively, the non-chewable pills cannot be halved or crushed for the pediatrics to make it easier to swallow (7).
2. Objectives
Parents’ awareness of the proper use of medication is very important. Furthermore, knowledge of the etiology and predisposing factors of the disease, and the mother’ role, and age and educational attainment are key points (8, 9). Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate parents’ awareness of consumption of medications.
3. Methods
3.1. Study Setting
This cross-sectional study was conducted in pediatric clinic of Amir-Kabir Hospital, a governmental pediatric referral center, in Arak city.
3.2. Study Population
We evaluated patients’ parents in our study and their awareness of consumption of medications. We included 100 cases as the study group. Patients were selected in 2016 within two months.
3.3. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
Outpatient pediatrics’ parents who were willing to participate in the study were considered the study groups. Also, parents who did not answer the questions correctly were excluded from the study.
3.4. Ethical Considerations
Ethical issues (including plagiarism, data fabrication, and double publication) have been completely considered by the authors. In addition, the Ethics Committee of Arak University of Medical Sciences approved the study protocol, with the ethical code IR.ARAKMU.REC.1395.183.
3.5. Measurement
One hundred patients’ parents were selected as the study group. At first, the demographic information was obtained, and then a questionnaire was completed by them. After completing the first questionnaire, parents were given training on how to correctly use medication as follows:
How to make syrup, how to use a syringe and a dropper, avoid crushing or chewing coated pills, avoiding taking crushed coated pills, shaking liquid medicines before taking, discarding semi-consumed medications that are partially consumed, washing hands and eyelashes and around the eye before using eye drops, not prolonged use of eye drops, especially those containing corticosteroids. Then, 48 hours after training and follow-up by phone call, the second questionnaire was completed for the parents.
After collecting the pre- and post-training questionnaires, the data were extracted from both questionnaires, and their results were analyzed in SPSS statistical system. Then, the results of the two questionnaires were compared to evaluate the effect of education and give information on parents’ knowledge and attitude.
3.6. Statistical Analysis
In this study, we used descriptive-analytic statistical methods, tables, and statistical charts. Data were analyzed with SPSS 23 software. The mean and standard deviation (SD) were used for the descriptive analysis of the data. In addition, statistical analysis was performed using paired t-test or non-parametric tests.
4. Results
Of 100 evaluated cases, the mean ± SD of children age was 4.3 ± 2.4 years. Also, age of children’s fathers and mothers were 40.6 ± 10.2 and 36.3 ± 8.8 years, respectively. Parents’ educational levels and occupations are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1.Demographic and Epidemiologic Information of Children (n = 100)
| Variables | Values (n = 100) |
|---|---|
| Age (y) | |
| Children | 4.3 ± 2.4 |
| Father | 40.6 ± 10.2 |
| Mother | 36.3 ± 8.8 |
| Father’s education | |
| Lower diploma | 93 |
| Diploma and associate degree | 5 |
| Bachelor degree and higher | 2 |
| Mother’s education | |
| Lower diploma | 87 |
| Diploma and associate degree | 9 |
| Bachelor degree and higher | 4 |
| Father’s occupation | |
| Unemployed | 24 |
| Farmer | 32 |
| Employee | 14 |
| Self-employer | 30 |
| Mother’s occupation | |
| Housewife | 44 |
| Employee | 13 |
| Self-employer | 43 |
In evaluating the awareness of parents about medication consumption in mothers, before training, awareness was poor in 76 cases, intermediate in 16 cases and good in 8 cases. Also, after training, awareness was poor in 34 cases, intermediate in 49 cases and good in 17 cases. Moreover, in fathers, before training, awareness was poor in 86 cases, intermediate in 12 cases and good in two cases. Besides, after training, awareness was poor in 56 cases, intermediate in 38 cases, and good in six cases. Based on statistical evaluation, there was a significant difference between the two times of evaluations (P = 0.001, Table 2).
Table 2.Parents’ Awareness of the Use of Medications Pre- and Post-training
| Variables | Training | P-Value | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Before | After | ||
| Mothers awareness | 0.001 | ||
| Poor | 76 | 34 | |
| Intermediate | 16 | 49 | |
| Good | 8 | 17 | |
| Fathers’ awareness | 0.001 | ||
| Poor | 86 | 56 | |
| Intermediate | 12 | 38 | |
| Good | 2 | 6 | |
5. Discussion
Proper use of medications, as an important issue in pediatrics, has been noticed over time (10), and precise awareness of consumption of medications is important (5, 11). We observed that parental awareness was not at an appropriate level, so it is important to train parents about this issue. Other results have been discussed in the following. A study by Jafari et al. showed that parents did not have the appropriate knowledge, attitude, and practice about antibiotic use in children with upper respiratory infections, and it was necessary to increase parental knowledge by physicians (11). In our study, parents also did not have appropriate awareness of the consumption of medications (11). In another study by Dawood et al., they mentioned that the mean score of knowledge was 7.36 ± 2.38, and there was a statistically significant difference between age groups (P < 0.05) (10). Thus, they stated that older children were more aware of medication. In addition, they mentioned that the level of parental knowledge, socioeconomic status, and children’s attitudes about how to use the medication are affected. Accordingly, the results of this study were consistent with the results of our study. Further, the general education of the patient has been effective, which has been seen in all age groups of the parents. According to the results of this study, younger mothers with fewer children had better knowledge about the proper use of medication in children (10). So, we can improve knowledge of parents about proper medication consumption by accurately training them in this field.
5.1. Conclusions
Based on the results of the present study, training parents at any level of education about proper consumption of medications is an important issue in outpatients.
