Administering liquid medicine is trickier than it looks, especially when the recipient is a squirming toddler. Many parents reach for a kitchen spoon when giving drugs like liquid antibiotics or pain medicine. That could be a serious mistake. The kitchen spoon is not an accurate measuring device.
Researchers at Cornell University recruited almost 200 college students to measure 5 ml of liquid cold medicine in different sized spoons. They also asked how confident they were in their measuring ability. The students poured too little medicine into a medium sized tablespoon by over 8 percent. They poured too much into a larger spoon by nearly 12 percent. Despite this, they were quite confident that they had poured the correct amount of medicine.
An older sicker person or a parent trying to administer medicine to an uncooperative child could easily make a much larger error that might accumulate over time. Important liquid medications such as antibiotics, epilepsy drugs and heart medicine should always be given using an accurate oral syringe or dosing spoon, available in most pharmacies.
Annuals of internal medicine Jan 5th 2010
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