OBJECTIVES : In 2014, the Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety issued a safety warning to carefully consider adverse cardiac effects when prescribing domperidone for children. We conducted this study to compare the trends of domperidone prescription in pediatrics before and after the MFDS safety warning

METHODS : This study included patients < 18years old who used national health insurance services in the years 2011 and 2016, sampled from Health Insurance Review Agency data. We analyzed domperidone prescribing patterns including prescribed daily dosage, maximum period of continuous prescription, and number and types of co-prescribed medications and compare two different year pre- and post- safety warning.

RESULTS : In 2011, 16,614 pediatric patients received domperidone prescriptions in 2011 and 11,317 patients in 2016. The likelihood of receiving at least 1 prescription in 2016 decreased significantly relative to 2011 (P <0.001). Gastritis was most common indication in both years. The number of prescriptions contained maximum dosage in a day over 30 mg was significantly lower in 2016. In the same time period, the number of cases with a maximum continuous prescription period of more than 7 days significantly decreased (P <0.001). In addition, from 2011 to 2016, comorbid diseases of domperidone treated patients were similar, but the number of co-prescriptions of interacting medication to domperidone decreased (P <0.001).

CONCLUSIONS : After the 2014 safety letter was released, the pattern of prescribing domperidone in pediatrics has become safer in of prescriptions, maximum duration of domperidone uses, and the prescription of drugs that interact with domperidone.