Introduction and objective:
Children are a subgroup of the general population which is more prone to harmful sideeffects of OTC drugs. The aim of the study was to identify the parents’ knowledge about OTC drugs and to establish how the parents administer OTC drugs to their 10-year-old children.

Material and Methods:
The study was conducted in April 2011 in Primary School No. 40 in Lublin among the parents of 10-year-old pupils. The research was performed by means of a survey method, a poll auditorium technique. An original questionnaire consisting of 20 closed end questions was used. 107 correctly filled questionnaires were collected.

Results:
The following sources of information about OTC drugs administered to children were given by their parents: a physician (52.3%), a pharmacist (52.3%) and parents’ own experiences with OTC drugs (47.7%). A physician was the most trusted source of information, a pharmacist was on the second position. Commercials and opinions of family members or friends were the least trusted sources of information about OTC drugs. As many as 43.9% of the examined did not follow a drug administration schedule while dosing OTC drugs to their children, and 17.8% admitted that sometimes they gave larger that recommended drug doses to their children. Over one third of the examined parents acknowledged that they seldom checked the drug expiry date, and almost one fourth of the parents rarely verified which chemical substances were present in a given medicine. Nearly one third of the examined did not keep medicines in a place inaccessible for their children and 27.1% of parents let their children take the drugs by themselves when the parents were absent.

Conclusions:
It is alarming that so many parents lack awareness that breaking the rules of drug administration to their children irresponsibly can cause a real threat to children’s health.