• Prescribing errors may be the most frequent medication errors. • In paediatric populations, the incidence of prescribing errors is higher than in adults. What is New: • Several risk factors for medication prescribing errors, such as medication groups, long PICU stay, and mechanical ventilation could be presented. • Analysing the combination of the most frequent prescribing errors and the severity of these errors.

The results suggest that drugs are associated with acute renal dysfunction in critically ill children, but the multifactorial causes of AKI should be kept in mind.

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Background: Determining the correct drug dosage for children is difficult. Drugs are frequently used "off-label" or "unlicensed", and dosage recommendations in the summary of product characteristics (SPC) are rarely available. The aim of our survey was to analyse the behaviour of Swiss healthcare professionals regarding their use of electronic drug databases by focusing on databases for paediatric dosages. Methods/results: An online survey was sent to Swiss paediatricians (N = 1806) and pharmacists (N = 2073). The rate of return was 23% (N = 882). Over 70% of all participants use electronic drug databases at least once a week, whereas 36% use them daily. Only 6% never use electronic drug databases. The utilization of different information systems was analysed. Professionals tend to use websites and the guidelines of their respective institution. Such guidelines are crucial for paediatricians, and 57% use them at least once a week. However, only 13% of Swiss healthcare professionals use mobile apps at least once a week to look up paediatric dosages, and 65% never use mobile apps. The most important database for paediatric dosages was www.compendium.ch followed by the website of the University Children's Hospital (www.kinderdosierungen.ch). Conclusion: Our results show that electronic information about paediatric dosages is frequently used by paediatricians and pharmacists, and is crucial for their daily work. The most important sources for paediatric dosages are the SPC and www.kinderdosierungen.ch. Especially in the case of "off-label" or "unlicensed use", this website is an important tool for Swiss healthcare professionals.

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