Over-the-Counter Drugs and Complementary Medications Use among Children in Southern Italy
Table 1
Distribution of the attitude of use of nonprescription drugs (NPDs) according to selected characteristics of the study population.
Total ()
%
Positive attitude on NPDsa use ()b
%
Respondent
Mother
650
89.3
447
68.8
Other relatives (father, grandparents)
78
10.7
58
74.4
= 1.02, 1 df,
Age (years)
<35
304
41.8
183
60.2
35
424
58.2
322
75.9
= 20.66, 1 df,
Marital status
Married/cohabitees
707
97.1
488
69
Other (single, separated/divorced, or widow)
21
2.9
17
81
= 1.37, 1 df,
Education level (years of schooling)
<8
142
19.5
110
77.5
8
586
80.5
395
67.4
= 5.44, 1 df,
Working activity
No
343
47.1
241
70.3
Yes
385
52.9
264
69.6
= 0.24, 1 df,
Number of children in the family
1
330
45.3
171
51.8
2
312
42.9
263
84.3
3
86
11.8
71
82.3
= 87.6, 2 df,
Child
Gender
Male
398
54.7
280
70.4
Female
330
45.3
225
68.2
= 0.4, 1 df,
Age (years)
0–2
219
30.1
116
53
3–6
341
46.8
256
75.1
7–11
133
18.3
107
80.5
>11
35
4.8
26
74.3
Mean ± SD
4.6 ± 3.4
5 ± 3.4
, 726 df,
Chronic illness diagnosed by a physician
No
612
84.1
408
66.7
Yes
116
15.9
97
83.6
= 13.2, 1 df,
Prescribed medicine regularly used
No
646
88.7
434
67.2
Yes
82
11.3
71
86.6
= 12.9, 1 df,
General health perception by the parents
Poor/fair
57
7.6
44
80.0
Good/very good/excellent
673
92.5
461
68.5
= 3.16, 1 df,
Source of information about medications (727; 99.9%)b
Favorite source of information about medications characteristics
Only pediatrician
397
54.6
255
64.2
Pediatrician and other sourcec
294
40.4
218
74.2
Other sourcec
36
5
32
88.9
for trend = 14.3, 1 df,
Influences on medications selection
Only pediatrician
412
56.7
259
62.9
Pediatrician and other influencesd
196
27
140
71.4
Other influencesd
119
16.4
106
89.1
for trend = 29.11, 1 df,
Use of product label or other kind of information before administering the drug
No
172
23.7
132
76.7
Yes
555
76.3
373
67.2
= 5.63, 1 df,
Use of dosing recommendations provided on the product label
No
575
79.1
377
65.6
Yes
152
20.9
128
84.2
= 19.7, 1 df,
Favorite source for dose informatione
Only pediatrician
492
85.6
307
62.4
Pediatrician and other sourcec
61
10.6
49
80.3
Other sourcec
22
3.8
21
95.5
for trend = 16.72, 1 df,
Nonprescription drugs. bIn brackets, the number and the percentage of the total sample of 728 subjects responding to the question. cInternet, books, nurse, friends/family, pharmacist, media (newspaper/TV/magazines/radio), child care/teacher, or personal experience. dCost, packaging, advertising by media, pharmacist/physician/nurse endorsement, friend/family endorsement, child care worker, or personal choice. e575 subjects were eligible, because they did not always use product label for dose information.
