• Ran D Goldman, Sunita Vohra, and Alexander L Rogovik.
• Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, BC Children's Hospital, Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Child & Family Research Institute, Vancouver, BC, Canada. rgoldman@cw.bc.ca
• Fundam Clin Pharmacol. 2011 Feb 1; 25 (1): 131-7.

AbstractIncreasing use of vitamins has been documented worldwide in children and adolescents, and potential for vitamin-drug interactions exists. The aim of this study was to identify vitamin use by children visiting a pediatric emergency department (ED). A survey of parents and/or patients 0-18 years was conducted at a large pediatric ED in Canada. A total of 1804 families were interviewed. The main outcome measure was prevalence of vitamin use by children in the preceding 3 months. A third (32.3%) of the patients in our cohort had used vitamins in the preceding 3 months, and 48% of them were taking vitamins daily. Over 8% of all children used vitamins within the last 24 h. The use of vitamins was higher with older patient and parental age (P<0.001), chronic patient illness (P<0.001), completed immunization (P<0.001), concurrent patient use of prescribed medications (P=0.02), higher parental education (P<0.01), and English as a primary language spoken at home (P=0.002). Prevalence of vitamin use among children in the ED is 32% in the preceding 3 months and 8% within the last 24 h. In light of these findings, pediatricians should ask about vitamin use and discuss with parents potential interactions and possible adverse effects.© 2010 The Authors Fundamental and Clinical Pharmacology © 2010 Société Française de Pharmacologie et de Thérapeutique.

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