Table 1.

Prevalence of consumption of medications in the Spanish paediatric population; Spanish National Health Survey (SNHS) 1993 and 2003

	SNHS 1993	SNHS 2003
Type of medication	% (95% CI)	% (95% CI)
Medicines for colds, influenza and sore throat*	24.40 (23.06, 25.79)	14.80 (13.75, 15.93)
Medicines for pain relief and lowering temperature*	8.65 (7.80, 9.59)	12.04 (11.06, 13.10)
Vitamins, minerals, tonics	3.05 (2.54, 3.65)	3.44 (2.94, 4.01)
Laxatives*	0.11 (0.00, 0.29)	0.24 (0.13, 0.43)
Antibiotics*	4.36 (3.74, 5.08)	5.33 (4.66, 6.10)
Tranquillisers, muscle relaxants, sleeping pills	0.42 (0.26, 0.68)	0.36 (0.23, 0.56)
Medication for allergy*	1.93 (1.52, 2.43)	3.53 (3.02, 4.12)
Medication for diarrhoea*	0.78 (0.53, 1.16)	0.53 (0.25, 0.62)
Medication for vomiting*	0.57 (0.37, 0.89)	0.39 (0.25, 0.62)
Other	2.72 (2.21, 3.34)	5.51 (4.85, 6.26)

^*Statistically significant association, P < 0.05 on comparing the 2 years studied.