Evidence based data on preference of dosage forms are crucial for guiding the development of age-appropriate medicines. Often, preferences across different age groups are considered but studies on variations in preferences across populations, which may be crucial to acceptability, are lacking. To this aim, the EPTRI project developed a survey utilising country and age-adapted questions to quantify children’s experience with taking various pharmaceutical formulations.
It was reviewed and translated by the Young Persons Advisory Groups (YPAGs) of Albania, Barcelona and Bari to make the language and layout more child-friendly. So far, the survey received 189 answers from Albania, 440 from Italy, 235 from Spain and 121 from Romania.
The preliminary analysis shows important similarities and differences in preference for formulations across the different countries and shows how the health status of a child influences the preference of certain medicine types with variations across the different populations. In Spain, children preferred liquid formulations regardless of treating a chronic condition or not, while in Albania and Romania, tablets and capsules respectively were preferred among children treating chronic conditions.
The results also highlight the importance of children’s involvement as active stakeholders, as well as the importance to study preferences for kinds of oral formulations in developing tools to facilitate paediatric medicines formulation. The survey is still open and available in 4 languages:
- IT: https://uclpharmacy.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_b7qhs7ovOpJyNdX
- AL: https://uclpharmacy.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3IAAZuK0NvXe5xj
- SP: https://uclpharmacy.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_cBZJPxTb7iBm8ct
- RO: https://uclpharmacy.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_egj3MH18kLtrHZX
The survey is addressed to boys and girls up to 18 years of age and can be completed with the help of an adult. It will take approximately 5 minutes to be completed.
If you have questions about this survey, please feel free to send us an email at [email protected].