AHRQ Patient Safety Network ► Unit of measurement used and parent medication dosing errors.

AHRQ Patient Safety Network

Systematic review identifies several promising practices to reduce pediatric medication errors.Pediatrics. 2014 Jul 14; [Epub ahead of print].

Unit of measurement used and parent medication dosing errors.

Yin HS, Dreyer BP, Ugboaja DC, et al. Pediatrics. 2014 Jul 14; [Epub ahead of print].

This study found that parents given pediatric medication instructions using milliliter-only units made half as many dosing errors as parents that used teaspoon or tablespoon units. Non-english speakers and those with low health literacy were most vulnerable to dosing errors. The authors advocate for moving to a milliliter-only standard to reduce confusion and improve medication safety for children.

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