Document Detail


Parental attitudes toward medicine use in children in Finland.
MedLine Citation:
PMID:  21858727     Owner:  NLM     Status:  Publisher    
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
Objective The aim was to describe parental attitudes towards medicine use in children, and the factors associated with them. Setting A cross-sectional population survey of a random sample of children under 12 years of age (n = 6,000) was carried out in Finland in the spring of 2007, with a response rate of 67%. Method A questionnaire was sent to their parents. A Principal Component Analysis was conducted for the attitudinal scale to determine parental attitudes. Main outcome measure An attitudinal scale including 21 items on five-point Likert scale was used to determine parental attitudes towards medicines. Results Five principal components with 18 statements explained parental attitudes: General attitude towards medicines, Attitude towards prescription medicines, Attitude towards OTC medicines, Attitude towards the risks of medicines, and Attitude towards long-term use of pain-killers. These components were internally consistent and explained 54.7% of the total variance. Of the respondents, 15% were cautious towards medicine use, 84% agreed that prescription medicines are safe and effective, whereas 49% thought so about OTC medicines. Of the respondents, 69% were worried about the risks of medicines, especially parents older than 46 years, with a low level of education, who used medicinal herbs themselves, and had a child with a long-term illness. Moreover, 46% of the respondents were worried about the long-term use of pain-killers. Conclusion This population based study showed that the parental attitudes toward prescription medicines and toward OTC medicines are different: many parents consider prescription medicines as safe and effective, less think so of OTC medicines. A considerable proportion of parents had worries about side effects and interactions. This stresses the need to address these topics in encounters with parents.
Authors:
Katri Hämeen-Anttila; Pirjo Halonen; Sanna Siponen; Miina Holappa; Riitta Ahonen
Related Documents :
8315167 - Evaluating the performance of clinical dietitians.
21775067 - Reliance on credibility to prioritise interventions can lead to sub-optimal management ...
21824787 - Salary discrepancies between practicing male and female physician assistants.
21645607 - The prevalence of herbal medicine home use and concomitant use with pharmaceutical medi...
21382807 - Pharmacist integration into the medical home: qualitative analysis.
11054197 - A survey of academic departments of emergency medicine regarding operation and clinical...
Publication Detail:
Type:  JOURNAL ARTICLE     Date:  2011-8-21
Journal Detail:
Title:  International journal of clinical pharmacy     Volume:  -     ISSN:  2210-7711     ISO Abbreviation:  -     Publication Date:  2011 Aug 
Date Detail:
Created Date:  2011-8-22     Completed Date:  -     Revised Date:  -    
Medline Journal Info:
Nlm Unique ID:  101554912     Medline TA:  Int J Clin Pharm     Country:  -    
Other Details:
Languages:  ENG     Pagination:  -     Citation Subset:  -    
Affiliation:
Finnish Medicines Agency, Microkatu 1, Kuopio, P.O. Box 55, 00301, Helsinki, Finland, katri.hameen-anttila@fimea.fi.
Export Citation:
APA/MLA Format     Download EndNote     Download BibTex
MeSH Terms
Descriptor/Qualifier:

From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine


Previous Document:  Spinal growth modulation using a novel intravertebral epiphyseal device in an immature porcine model...
Next Document:  Relationships of ESR1 and XBP1 expression in human breast carcinoma and stromal cells isolated by la...