Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT: Content
Clinician prescribing of off-label medications is common due to a lack of pediatric-specific data regarding the dosing, efficacy and safety of medications regularly prescribed to children.Objective
This systematic review summarizes the published incidence of off-label medication use in children from the past 10 years. We also performed a retrospective chart review to determine the incidence of off-label prescriptions for children seen in the OU Physicians clinics.Data sources
We conducted a literature search of PubMed and OVID Medline from 2007 to 2017. Search terms included off-label use of medications and all child. For the local review, the outpatient electronic medical record (EMR) was queried.Study selection
Studies were eligible for inclusion if the study included children < 18 years of age, defined off-label use in the paper, and included the incidence of off-label drug use.Data extraction
Each review author extracted the study data from their assigned studies. For the retrospective chart review, the EMR was queried for patients <21 years of age who had a clinic visit and received a new prescription during 2017.Results
We identified 31 studies, with off-label prescription rates from 3.2 % to 95%. The local retrospective chart review included 1,323 prescriptions; 504 were off-label (38.1%) and 819 were approved. The frequency of off-label prescriptions does not differ significantly between the meta-analysis from the systematic review and the local retrospective chart review (30.9% vs 38.1%).Conclusions
The use of off-label medications in children remains a common practice for pediatric providers.
SUBMITTER: Allen HC
PROVIDER: S-EPMC6677268 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Allen H Christine HC Garbe M Connor MC Lees Julie J Aziz Naila N Chaaban Hala H Miller Jamie L JL Johnson Peter P DeLeon Stephanie S
The Journal of the Oklahoma State Medical Association 20181001 8
<h4>Content</h4>Clinician prescribing of off-label medications is common due to a lack of pediatric-specific data regarding the dosing, efficacy and safety of medications regularly prescribed to children.<h4>Objective</h4>This systematic review summarizes the published incidence of off-label medication use in children from the past 10 years. We also performed a retrospective chart review to determine the incidence of off-label prescriptions for children seen in the OU Physicians clinics.<h4>Data ...[more]