Rational Prescribing for Children v.1.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Study into the Validity and Usefulness of the Pediatrics: Omission of Prescriptions and Inappropriate Prescriptions (POPI) Criteria to Assess Rational Prescribing for Children
IRAS ID
191321
Contact name
Helen Sammons
Contact email
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 5 months, 30 days
Research summary
The purpose of this study is to refine and test a screening tool for rational prescribing for children. Rational prescribing has been described by the World Health Organisation as the therapeutically sound and cost-effective use of drugs by health professionals and consumers (WHO Medicines Strategy 2008-2013). Rational prescribing has been widely studied in adults but relatively little is known about it for children. The Paediatric: Omissions of Prescriptions and Inappropriate Prescriptions (POPI) criteria are the first screening tool that has been designed to look at this.
In this study, the tool will be refined to be in line with UK clinical guidelines from the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the British National Formulary for Children (cBNF). The modified criteria will then be used to screen prescriptions in The Derbyshire Children’s Hospital from inpatient wards and from the Children’s Emergency Department to test its usefulness. Also, this process will be used to identify any common symptoms or diagnoses that may not be covered by the modified POPI criteria and to find if there are errors and omissions that it does identify.
The 80 propositions laid out in the modified POPI screening tool are criteria stating prescriptions considered inappropriate and omissions that are considered important for specific diseases or symptoms. These cover a range of conditions including pain or fever and specific diseases such as acne and depression.
As a secondary objective, after screening the prescriptions in Derbyshire Children’s Hospital, any inappropriate and omitted prescriptions identified using the modified POPI criteria will be analysed to find the overall frequency of these errors. Also if possible, we will identify any patterns such as whether particular types of error are more common in one area (inpatients or emergency patients) or according to the grade or profession of the prescriber.
REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/2191
Date of REC Opinion
19 Jan 2016
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion