94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Oncol.
Sec. Pediatric Oncology
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fonc.2025.1444565
This article is part of the Research Topic Adverse and Toxic Effects of Childhood Cancer Treatments - Volume II View all 8 articles
Prescription Patterns of Supportive Care Medications among Children Receiving Chemotherapy treatments at a Major Referral Hospital in Tanzania: Where are we in managing Chemotherapy-Induced Toxicities?
Provisionally accepted- 1 Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacy Practices, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS), Bugando, Tanzania
- 2 Department of Biochemistry, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS), Bugando, Tanzania
- 3 Department of Pharmacology, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS), Bugando, Tanzania
- 4 Duke Global Health Institute, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina, United States
Background: Cancer chemotherapy is a treatment that systematically kills cancer cells but causes expected side effects, known as chemotherapy-induced toxicities. These toxicities are managed with supportive care medications. This study aimed to determine the prescription patterns of supportive care medications in children receiving chemotherapy at a major referral hospital in Tanzania.A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at Bugando Medical Centre (BMC). The study analyzed 104 prescription slips of pediatric cancer patients receiving chemotherapy and qualitatively assessed national guidelines and disease-specific protocols used in guiding treatment. Data were cleaned in Microsoft Excel, analyzed using STATA version 15, and presented as frequencies, percentages, and narrative summaries.Results: Ondansetron (84.6%) and pre-hydration normal saline (20.2%) were the most prescribed pre-chemotherapy supportive care medications. Similarly, oral ondansetron (80.8%) and posthydration normal saline (22.1%) were the most prescribed post-chemotherapy medications. Few prescriptions included a combination of antiemetics, fluids, and proton pump inhibitors for regimens with multiple chemotherapeutic agents. National cancer treatment guidelines lacked detailed sections on supportive care medications, leaving prescribing decisions to clinicians, while Burkitt's lymphoma and nephroblastoma protocols offered more detailed guidance.
Keywords: Prescription patterns, Pediatrics, Supportive care medications, Chemotherapy-induced toxicities, Tanzania
Received: 05 Jun 2024; Accepted: 10 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Katabalo, Abraham, Kidenya, Liwa and Schroeder. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Deogratias Katabalo, Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmacy Practices, Catholic University of Health and Allied Sciences (CUHAS), Bugando, Tanzania
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.