Objective To determine the extent of off-label drug use in Pediatric Wards of West China Second University Hospital in 2010 and analyze its risk factors, so as to provide baseline data for getting acquainted with the extent of off-label drug use in pediatrics in China, and for making policies of off-label drug use. Methods The proportionate stratified random sampling was conducted to select medical advice and discharge medication for hospitalized children in Pediatric Wards in 2010. According to drug instructions, the off-label drug use of prescriptions of all selected children was analyzed in the following aspects, the category of off-label drug use, age, category of drugs and wards. In addition, a logistic regression was done that modeled the odds of receiving an off-label prescription as a function of the following possible risk factors: age, sex and the rank of doctors. Results The total 749 children were selected, and 14 374 prescriptions involving 385 drugs were analyzed. The rate of off-label drug use was 98.00%, 78.96% and 88.05% in children, prescriptions and drug categories, respectively. The main categories of off-label drug use were no pediatric information (29.41%), indication (18.35%), dosage (17.61%) and dosage range (±20%) (13.52%). The top 2 age groups of off-label drug use were adolescents (83.56%) and children (80.58%). The top 4 drugs of off-label use were those for alimentary tract and metabolism (82.28%), anti-infectives for systemic use (75.06%), blood and blood forming organs (79.27%) and respiratory (58.27%). The top 2 wards of off-label drug use were Pediatric Hematology (88.27%) and Neonates (79.12%). In hospital, children, adolescents and male patients had higher risk factors of off-label drug use, and doctors with senior rank prescribed more off-label prescriptions than those with intermediate rank. Conclusion The off-label drug use in Pediatric Wards is common in West China Second University Hospital. On the one hand, drug instructions lack the pediatric information, and, on the other hand, it’s badly in need of developing relevant legislations, regulations or guidelines to regulate off-label drug use, in order to avoid doctor’s professional risks and ensure the safety of pediatric drug use.
Objective To assess the global situation of off-label drug use in hospitalized children. Methods The databases such as PubMed, EMbase, CBM, CNKI and VIP were searched to collect studies on off-label drug use in hospitalized children at age of 0 to 18 years old. The publication language was limited to English and Chinese. The quality assessment was based on Crombie Criteria for cross-sectional studies. The incidence of off-label drug use was described in different wards and age groups, and the proportion of different off-label used drugs was analyzed. Results The total 29 cross-sectional studies were included, involving 8 560 children and 41 655 prescriptions. a) Median (IQR) of off-label use incidence: Neonatal ICU 52.5% (23.0% to 44.8%), Pediatric ICU 43.5% (34.5% to 60%), General pediatric ward 35.5% (23.8% to 43.3%), Pediatric surgical ward 27.5% (23.0% to 44.8%); b) The results of off-label incidence in different age groups were inconsistent among different studies; and c) The off-label drug use for “no pediatric information” had the largest proportion, followed by dose and age. Conclusion a) Off-label drug use exists widely around the world, but the incidence varies a lot in different countries and different types of wards; b) The incidence of off-label drug use may be higher in ICU than in non-ICU, and higher in the neonatal ward than the pediatric ward; c) The off-label drug use for no pediatric information is the commonest type, and further clinical studies should focus on areas in which high quality evidence is totally absent; and d) The multi-center studies with unified design on off-label drug use in hospitalized children in China are urgently needed to provide evidence for policy-making.