Paracetamol prescribing in primary care: too little and too much?

Aims: To assess the level of paracetamol off label prescribing in the community and the potential for paracetamol under or overdosing.

Methods: The Scottish Practice Team Information (PTI) database containing prescribing data for approximately 35,839 children aged (0-12 years) was analysed for paracetamol prescriptions for the year 2006. Off label prescribing was defined as prescribing outside the BNFc age and dose recommendations.

Results: Two thousand seven hundred and sixty-one children aged 0-12 years were issued with 4423 prescriptions for paracetamol. (1446 males). Children 1-5 years (1329, 42.2%) accounted for 48.9% (2164) of all paracetamol prescriptions. Eighteen per cent (793) of individual prescriptions were off label and after accounting for repeat prescriptions 625 (22.75%) individuals were exposed to off label prescriptions. A further 15% (668) of prescriptions contained insufficient dosage data to determine their status, 13.3% (368) being underdosed and 4.4% (121) overdosed at least once during the study year. In total 11.3% (502) of all prescriptions were classified as underdose, 2.9% (127) as overdose and 15% (667) had no dosage instructions. Age was significantly related to non recommended dosage (χ(2) test, P < 0.001). Children 1-3 months old were at highest risk of being overdosed; 27% of prescriptions recommended actual or potential overdosage and 25% (354) of children aged 6-12 years were prescribed an actual or potential underdose. Overall 57.2% of all prescriptions failed to comply with current BNFc recommendations.

Conclusion: Paracetamol off label prescribing is common in primary care, with relatively high levels of potential overdosing in the youngest children and potential underdosing in the oldest children.