Off-Label Medicine Use in Pediatric Inpatients: A Prospective Observational Study at a Tertiary Care Hospital in India

Table 2

Proportion off-label medicine use in different age groups.

Age group	Total medicine	Off-label medicine	Off-label category
			Dose	Age	Indication	Route	Absence of pediatric information
All age groups; ( = 320)	1645	1152; (70)	893; (63)	282; (19.8)	145; (10.2)	24; (1.7)	76; (5.3)
1–12 months; ( = 138)	683	472; (69)	391; (64)	147; (24)	44; (7.2)	8; (1.4)	21; (3.4)
>1-2 years; ( = 63)	363	276; (76)	218; (63)	70; (20.3)	35; (10.3)	6; (1.8)	16; (4.6)
>2 years–6 years; ( = 74)	393	269; (68)	204; (65.4)	46; (14.7)	37; (11.8)	5; (1.6)	20; (6.5)
>6–12 years; ( = 45)	206	135; (65)	80; (52.6)	19; (12.5)	29; (19.1)	5; (3.3)	19; (12.5)

Note: the total number of off-label uses exceeds that of off-label drugs because a drug may be off-label for more than one category. Figures in parentheses indicate percentage.