Abstract: Objective To investigate the problems with the use of commonly-used medicines at home and children's medication behaviors and to explore the countermeasures for reducing the incidence of taking wrong medicines by children. Methods Convenience sampling was adopted to investigate the storage of commonly-used medicines at home, the incidence of children taking wrong medicines and ways of safe medications among children ages 0 to 18 in 16 cities in Shandong Province. The data was statistically analyzed. Results A total of 3 005 valid questionnaires were obtained 92.41% of the families surveyed stored commonly-used medicines, including medicines for children's colds (88.33%), antipyretic and analgesic medicines for children (67.81%), adult medicines (59.7%) , and those for cough and phlegm (58.26%).4.83% of the children surveyed had the experience of taking wrong medicines, 66.9% of whom were aged 1 to 3, and 13.79% 4 to 6. There was significant difference in the incidence of taking the wrong medicines between urban and rural kids (P<0.05). Medicines taken by mistake included medicines for colds (31.72%), for cough and phlegm (17.24%), and antipyretic and analgesic ones (16.55%). The incidence of taking wrong medicines was the highest(41.38%), followed by overdose (31.72%) and wrong routes of administration (12.41%). The main reason was that children took wrong drugs themselves (44.14%). Conclusion There are hidden hazards in the management of commonly-used drugs at home and the medication behavior of children. It is suggested that the research and development of pharmaceuticals intended for children be promoted, packaging of drugs be improved, and ways to ensure safe medication among children be made better-known.

Key words: commonly-used medicines at home, children, take wrong medicine, precautions, safe medication