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Potential Vitamin-Drug Interactions in Children

At a Pediatric Emergency Department

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Abstract

Background: A significant increase in vitamin use has been observed in recent years and interactions between vitamins and medications have been reported.

Objective: To determine the frequency and types of potential interactions between vitamins and medications in children arriving at a large tertiary, pediatric emergency department. We also compared family characteristics of children with potential interactions with those of children with no potential interactions, in order to determine children at a higher risk.

Methods: A cross-sectional study in which a survey was conducted of parents/caregivers and/or patients aged 0–18 years registered at a large pediatric emergency department in Canada. A total of 1804 families underwent a face-to-face interview. The main outcome measure was the rate of potential vitamin interactions in the preceding 3 months.

Results: A considerable number of patients (11% of our cohort) had potential vitamin-medication interactions in the preceding 3 months, which could theoretically result in adverse events, and over one-third of these children had more than one potential interaction. Patients with potential interactions and their parents were significantly older (p< 0.001 for the child and mother, p = 0.02 for the father), the children were much more likely to have a chronic illness (p< 0.001) and concurrently receive prescribed or over-the-counter medication (p < 0.001), and more children with potential interactions were completely immunized (p = 0.02). The child’s sex, parental education, employment status, family income, and primary language spoken at home were not associated with potential interactions.

Conclusions: Taking into account the high rate of potential vitamin-drug interactions, especially among older children and patients with chronic illness, parents and healthcare providers need to balance the potential benefit of concurrent vitamin-medication use with its potential harms.

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Acknowledgments

The grant for the study was provided by the SickKids Foundation (Toronto, ON, Canada). Dr Ran Goldman had full access to all the data in the study and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Dr Sunita Vohra receives salary support from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The authors have no conflicts of interest that are directly relevant to the content of this study.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pediatric Research in Emergency Therapeutics (PRETx) Program, Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, BC Children’s Hospital, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Ran D. Goldman (Division Head and Medical Director, Associate Prof., Senior Associate Clinician Scientist) & Alex L. Rogovik

  2. Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Ran D. Goldman (Division Head and Medical Director, Associate Prof., Senior Associate Clinician Scientist)

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

    Ran D. Goldman (Division Head and Medical Director, Associate Prof., Senior Associate Clinician Scientist)

  4. Child & Family Research Institute (CFRI), Room K4-226, Ambulatory Care Building, 4480 Oak Street, Vancouver, British Columbia, V6H 3V4, Canada

    Ran D. Goldman (Division Head and Medical Director, Associate Prof., Senior Associate Clinician Scientist)

  5. Complementary and Alternative Research and Education (CARE) Program, Department of Pediatrics, Stollery Children’s Hospital, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

    Sunita Vohra

  6. Clinical Nutrition & Risk Factor Modification Center, St. Michael’s Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Alex L. Rogovik

Authors
  1. Ran D. Goldman
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  2. Sunita Vohra
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  3. Alex L. Rogovik
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Correspondence to Ran D. Goldman.

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Goldman, R.D., Vohra, S. & Rogovik, A.L. Potential Vitamin-Drug Interactions in Children. Pediatr-Drugs 11, 251–257 (2009). https://doi.org/10.2165/00148581-200911040-00004

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.2165/00148581-200911040-00004

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