Prescribers' indications for drugs in childhood: a survey of five European countries (Spain, France, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Russia).

Background: Indication-based, in comparison to diagnoses-based, drug utilization studies in children are scarce in the literature.

Aim: To determine the adequacy of the prescriber's indications for specific drug treatments compared to the current literature in five different European countries; and to show the possibilities of performing indication-based drug utilization studies.

Design: a descriptive, cross-sectional, international study.