Inappropriate use of promethazine and promethazine-containing products in children under the age of three years in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Objectives: To determine whether there was inappropriate use of promethazine, Stopayne or Goldgesic in children under three (3) years of age in Harare, and to measure its extent. Inappropriate referred to administering these medicines to children under the age of two (2) years for any indication or the administering of these medicines to an otherwise healthy child less than three (3) years old for sedation purposes.

Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study carried out between May and July 2010.

Setting: Retail pharmacies in Harare, Zimbabwe.

Results: The percentages of pharmacy personnel who indicated that parents request these syrups for sedation purposes in their children were: 20.8% promethazine; 18.9% Stopayne; and 9.6% Goldgesic. With respect to parents, it was found that 25% administered these syrups to children aged below 2 years. Of the parents who administered these syrups to their children about 7.7% did so for sedation purposes.

Conclusion: There was significant inappropriate use of all 3 syrups in children under the age of 3 years (p < 0.05). Direct evidence was seen in that pharmacy personnel dispensed these medicines for use in infants and parents administered these syrups to infants.