Palatability of sedative medicines in children
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A pilot study to assess the palatability of two commonly used sedative medicines in a children’s hospital.
IRAS ID
158296
Contact name
Helen Sammons
Contact email
Research summary
The use of sedation for diagnostic and/ or therapeutic procedures in children is needed to keep them still, induce of sleep and reduce anxiety and distress. There are few clinical studies that evaluated the palatability of the sedative agent used but none of these studies have originated from the UK. Taste and/or palatability have both been found to be important features, after safety and effectiveness, to children and their parents. Chloral hydrate and midazolam (the main sedation agents in children in the UK) are often regarded as unpleasant tasting, often described as bitter tasting, which may alter their acceptance and consequently sedation success.
This pilot study aims to evaluate the palatability of regularly used sedation agents in the UK and see if there is any possible link with the success of that sedation.
Children aged from birth to under 16 years who are scheduled for diagnostic procedural sedation or botulinum toxin injection at the Royal Derby Hospital will be recruited. They will be asked to rate the taste of the sedative medicine they have just received on a modified 10cm Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) incorporating a facial hedonic scale. The overall acceptability, time from nurses preparing the medication to administration, any adverse events in the first 5 minutes post administration (such as vomiting), nursing staff and parental comments will be recorded. The patient will then be reviewed after the procedure to rate the success of the sedation in the view of the health care professional involved.
The information gathered by this study surrounding palatability and the acceptance of the medicine along with the outcomes of sedation will help inform future studies and sedation policies both locally and nationally in children.REC name
HSC REC A
REC reference
14/NI/1061
Date of REC Opinion
16 Sep 2014
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion