2021 Volume 11 Issue 1 Pages 13-25
Pediatric drugs are required worldwide, but their amounts are not clinically sufficient. We therefore examined the pediatric drug needs based on a survey of 6th year students who completed long-term practical on-site training at Shujitsu University between FY2017 and FY2019. The major prescribed drugs that the students prepared were antimicrobials, antiallergic drugs, central nervous system drugs, gastrointestinal drugs, and cardiovascular drugs. Preparing the drugs with a pediatric dosage and formulation was not difficult for the students. As there were many drugs without a pediatric dosage or formulation, the students sometimes prepared pediatric drugs from adult drugs. They felt difficulties during such training. To set the pediatric dose, body weight and age conversion were mainly selected. To make powders, they sometimes crushed tablets or capsules, but this may impact on the stability and bioequivalence of the drug products. According to the questionnaire survey, it was also difficult for the students to communicate with pediatric patients and their parents. As a result of questionnaires of students, pediatric drugs at a pediatric dosage and appropriate pediatric formulations are needed for pediatric drug development to reduce dispensing errors and to ensure the quality of pharmaceuticals.
