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Vitamin use among children attending a Canadian pediatric emergency department

Increasing use of vitamins has been documented worldwide in children and adolescents, and potential for vitamin–drug interactions exists. The aim of this study was to identify vitamin use by children visiting a pediatric emergency department (ED). A survey of parents and/or patients 0–18 years was conducted at a large pediatric ED in Canada. A total of 1804 families were interviewed. The main outcome measure was prevalence of vitamin use by children in the preceding 3 months. A third (32.3%) of the patients in our cohort had used vitamins in the preceding 3 months, and 48% of them were taking vitamins daily. Over 8% of all children used vitamins within the last 24 h. The use of vitamins was higher with older patient and parental age (P < 0.001), chronic patient illness (P < 0.001), completed immunization (P < 0.001), concurrent patient use of prescribed medications (P = 0.02), higher parental education (P < 0.01), and English as a primary language spoken at home (P = 0.002). Prevalence of vitamin use among children in the ED is 32% in the preceding 3 months and 8% within the last 24 h. In light of these findings, pediatricians should ask about vitamin use and discuss with parents potential interactions and possible adverse effects.