• Dilara Bayram, Caner Vizdiklar, Volkan Aydin, Narin Akici, Omer Atac, and Ahmet Akici.
• Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University, Istanbul, Turkey.
• Fam Pract. 2024 Jun 12; 41 (3): 270276270-276.

BackgroundParacetamol and ibuprofen are the most preferred analgesics for pain and fever management in children. Prescribing of these drugs in supratherapeutic doses may predispose to their toxicity. We aimed to compare prescribing patterns and potential overdosing of paracetamol and ibuprofen in primary care for <12-year-old children.MethodsWe analysed paracetamol- and ibuprofen-containing prescriptions (PCPs, n = 173,575 and ICPs, n = 145,655) of 1- to 11-year-old children, issued by 3:1 systematically sampled primary care physicians (n = 1,431) in Istanbul during 2016. We compared drug use parameters and prescriptions surpassing daily and single-use dose limits for paracetamol and ibuprofen.ResultsWe identified that 29.9% of PCPs and 20.8% of ICPs were generated for those aged 1-2 years. Concomitant analgesic use was higher in ICPs than in PCPs (15.1% vs. 12.8%). We found that 4.4% of PCPs and 3.1% of ICPs exceeded maximum daily dose limit of paracetamol and ibuprofen, respectively (P < 0.001). This was more common in girls (5.1% and 3.3%, respectively) and at 1 year of age in both groups (9.2% and 8.5%, respectively). Single-use supratherapeutic dosing was encountered in 16.5% of PCPs and 13.2% of ICPs (P < 0.001, pessimistic model) and in 8.6% of PCPs and 10.6% of ICPs (P < 0.001, optimistic model).ConclusionsParacetamol and ibuprofen were generally used in primary care for similar clinical conditions with subtle differences. However, more pronounced in younger children and girls, potential overdosing seems to be more practiced for paracetamol than ibuprofen both in terms of maximal daily and single-use setting.© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.

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