An audit of instructions presented on paediatric oral liquid medicine labels dispensed by community pharmacies

Abstract Background To optimise health outcomes, it is important that caregivers understand the instructions on the labels of medicines dispensed for children. Aim To describe how the instructions on the labels of oral liquid medicines dispensed in community pharmacies for a sample of children were presented, focusing on the variation of elements known to influence comprehension. Method This was a retrospective audit of the label instructions on oral liquid medicines dispensed to children aged 14 years and under by community pharmacy staff in Aotearoa New Zealand. The parameters of the instructions analysed included dose and dosing frequency presentation, the indication, duration of use, and the use of special characters. Ethical approval was granted by the Auckland Health Research Ethics Committee (Reference no: AH23844) and the study conforms with the Declaration of Helsinki. Results In total, 2637 oral liquid medicine labels for 745 children, dispensed from 194 different community pharmacies, were analysed. Doses were written alphabetically (31.0%), numerically (40.3%), or alphanumerically (28.7%). Most labels (58.1%) expressed the frequency as the specific number of times per day without reference to a time of day or interval between doses. The explicit time of day to take the medicine was only included in 4.8% of labels, and the frequency interval in hours was included in 31.1% of labels. Conclusion Considerable variation existed in medicine label elements known to influence understandability. Further research is needed to determine what the optimal format of a label is and whether Aotearoa New Zealand needs its own best practice guidelines for dispensed medicine labels.