Caregiver Knowledge, Attitudes and Home Medication Administration Practices for Children Attending a Nigerian Tertiary Hospital

Publication Details

Publication Date

10/10/2026

Volume / Issue

Vol 1, Issue 5 (2026)

Article No.

034

Journal

British Journal of Contemporary Research

DOI

https://doi.org/10.67693/BJCR-TDKVAEYT

Received

15 Sep 2026

Views

21

Downloads

11

Abstract

Background: Once a child leaves the hospital or clinic with a prescription, the caregiver becomes the final safeguard against medication error, yet caregiver-level home practices are far less studied in Nigeria than hospital-based error. Objective: To describe the knowledge, attitudes and home medication administration practices of caregivers of children attending a paediatric department in a Nigerian tertiary hospital, and to examine how these practices relate to caregiver education and child age. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted in 2020 among 215 caregivers of children attending the paediatric department of a Federal Medical Centre in South-South Nigeria, using a structured, interviewer-assisted questionnaire covering demographic characteristics and 23 items on medication-related knowledge, attitudes and practice. Descriptive statistics summarised the data, and the Pearson chi-square test assessed associations between caregiver education, child age and error type, with p<0.05 considered significant. Results: Most caregivers were mothers (47.4%) of a child aged 1–4 years (35.3%), residing in an urban area (66.5%), with tertiary education (37.2%) and a monthly income above N15,000 (74.9%). Dosing error (under-dose and over-dose combined) was the most frequently reported error type across all educational backgrounds and age groups, including among tertiary-educated caregivers (37.2% reporting dose error as the leading type). Regarding home practice, when a child vomited medicine, 41.9% of caregivers re-administered the dose immediately and 38.1% waited before trying again; when a child refused medicine, 35.3% fed it forcefully. Most caregivers (78.6%) used the device supplied with the medicine, and 40.9% reconstituted liquids with boiled and cooled water, though 34.0% used bottled water and 8.4% used any available water. Conclusion: Dosing error is common in the home setting even among educated, urban caregivers, and several widely practised responses to vomiting and refusal carry an appreciable risk of unintentional overdose. Caregiver education alone does not appear sufficient to prevent these practices; structured, practical counselling at the point of prescription is likely to be necessary.

License

This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License . Free to read, share, and adapt with attribution.