Erratum to: Application of medicines and nutritional supplements in childhood and adolescence in Germany

Abstract

In KiGGS Wave2, data from 3‑ to 17-year-olds were collected from atotal of 3462 persons using astandardized interview on the current use of AM/NEM in the last sevendays. For trends analysis, data from 14,679 study participants in the same age group from the KiGGS baseline study were used.In KiGGS Wave2, 36.4% (95% CI 34.1-38.8) of the 3‑ to 17-year-olds had used at least one AM/NEM in the last sevendays. The prevalence was highest at 46.5% in 14- to 17-year-olds and significantly different between girls and boys (56.4% vs. 37.3%). Only among girls were there significant differences by migrant background with ahigher prevalence of use among girls without amigrant background.Most frequently, the preparations used were for treatment of the respiratory tract (girls: 14.5%, boys: 15.1%), followed by "Varia" (girls: 8.7%, boys: 9.3%) and preparations for the treatment of the musculoskeletal system (girls: 9.0%, boys: 5.9%). There was asignificant decrease in the overall prevalence of medicine use compared to the KiGGS baseline study (46.4% vs. 36.4%). This decrease was mainly due to lower prevalences of use in the ATC main groups "NNervous System"(7.5% vs. 5.4%), "JSystemic Anti-infectives" (2.5% vs. 1.4%) and "HSystemic Hormones, excl. Sexual Hormones and Insulins" (2.0% vs. 1.1%).The results describe key points in the use of AM/NEM, including self-medication for children and adolescents in Germany. They illustrate the use behaviour and represent avaluable supplement to prescription data.