Skipping Medications May Mean More Frequent Hospital Visits for Children

Skipping medications has been linked to more and frequent hospital visits among children, according to a review released Thursday.

According to the report, kids and teens with asthma and type I diabetes are found to not take their medication as prescribed and those that skip doses are more likely to end up in the emergency room. More than half of children with a chronic illness are put on medication, but past studies found that anywhere from 50 percent to 88 percent don't take their medications as prescribed.

"In our experience, most patients and families are surprised to learn how prevalent this problem is, and many clinicians are as well," said lead author Meghan McGrady of the Division of Behavioral Medicine and Clinical Psychology at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.

McGrady and co-author Kevin Hommel set out to gauge the long-term healthcare utilization consequences of children with chronic illnesses not taking their medicine. They review included 10 past studies, nine of which found a link between skipping medication and more hospital visits.

Nine of the studies included children with asthma and the tenth study focused on those with type I diabetes. Most of the studies also looked at the kids between two and 18 years old; one included young adults up to age 29. Studies then tracked children's medication use through pharmacy refill records, family questionnaires and electronic monitors.

Results showed that on average, kids with asthma whose families did not fill any of their prescriptions were more likely to go to the ER than children with at least one filled prescription. Likewise, those who rarely refilled their drugs had more ER trips that children who got at least half of their prescription refills.