There are concerns regarding inappropriate use of cough and cold medication (CCM) in children. There are few studies stating that few such medications are ineffective and are also considered toxic for young children. Regardless of the fact, few regions show high use of these medications by physicians. However, data on paediatricians and these medications from India are negligible.

The objective of this study is to assess the burden and patterns of cough and cold medications used by paediatricians for hypothetical cases. In this cross-sectional study, almost 172 paediatricians from different hospitals of Delhi and Haryana were registered. They were communicated by authors personally and were asked for prescriptions in two hypothetical cases having cough and cold of two different age groups one is < 2 years and other is 2-5 years.

The response rate for this analysis was 93%. The most commonly used CCM was antihistamines (82%) and systemic sympathomimetics (48%). The use of CCM was significantly lower in teaching hospitals than non-teaching hospitals (77% vs. 95%). However, there was no difference in the practice of post graduates and more senior paediatricians. There was no significant difference observed in CCM use in two age groups {82% (< 2 years) vs. 85% (2-5 years)}.

Thus, the analysis concluded that the overall use of CCM is very high irrespective of patient age, paediatrician’s seniority or in hospital setting. Efforts should be made for creating awareness among the paediatricians for cautious use of these medications.

Source: Chandelia S, Dhankar M, Salhan M. Pediatricians cough and cold medication prescription for hypothetical cases - A cross-sectional multi-centric study. Saudi Pharm J. 2016 Mar;24(2):176-81. doi: 10.1016/j.jsps.2015.02.011. Epub 2015 Mar 19.