Annual Report - FIP

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200 Annual Report
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? what kind of perceptions and attitudes parents have about medicines
? how parents' own medicine use and attitudes influence children's medicine use
? from which sources parents search for information concerning child's medicine use
? which information sources are considered reliable by parents
Materials and methods
The study progresses in three phases
1) Pilot study (PHASE ONE)
The Children's medicine use questionnaire (CMUQ), developed in Finland was pilot tested among
Australian parents. The questionnaire was translated from Finnish to English then back-translated to
ensure semantic equivalence of the English questionnaire to the Finnish version. A total of 153
parents/main caregiver of a child aged 0-15 years were recruited via convenience sampling. Construct
validity of the attitudinal section of the CMQ was performed using exploratory factor analysis. To test
the reliability of statements contained in the instrument, the internal consistency was assessed using
Cronbach's alpha coefficient.
2) Focus groups (PHASE TWO)
Focus group discussions (FGD) with parents of different aged children under 15 years were conducted.
Three focus groups were conducted to explore participants' attitudes towards medicating children and
to triangulate quantitative data.
3) National survey (PHASE THREE)
This phase will use the validated instrument to survey a national sample. This data will inform the
design of education packages for children and their carers.
Results (Phase 1 and 2)
Factor analysis generated a parsimonious four factor solution explaining 50% of variance in the data.
The four subscales representing the four factor solution each returned a Cronbach's Alpha coefficient
> 0.6, indicating good internal consistency. Participants in focus groups were satisfied with the structure
and content of the questionnaire. There were five themes that emerged from focus groups regarding
the perception of medicines use in children. These included: concerns about the negative effects of
medicines, the necessity of prescription medicines for treating illness, the sufficiency of the body's
natural process in fighting illness, the efficacy of over-the-counter medicines, and the use of alternative
medicines in children. Interestingly, most themes discussed in the focus groups were reflected in the
factor solutions.
Implications for further studies and pharmacy practice
The findings of this study to date have shown that the CMQ is a valid and reliable instrument. Small