Background Hospital discharge is a complex multidisciplinary process that can lead to non-compliance and drugs-related problems. Crucial issue for children is parental knowledge of discharge treatments, especially in the time-limited and stressful environment of an emergency department (ED).

Objective To compare parental correct knowledge of treatment with and without supply of customised drug information leaflets for the 10 most commonly prescribed drugs.

Method Inclusion criteria: paediatric patients (0–16 years) with French-speaking parents discharged from ED of the paediatric department of Geneva University Hospitals before (phase A) and after (phase B) intervention.

Intervention Supply and brief comment of drug information leaflets focusing on specific information not available in official drugs information documents. Follow-up Semi-structured phone interview within 72 h after discharge to evaluate the percentage of parents with correct knowledge of dose, frequency, duration and indication of drugs. Multivariate analysis to identify factors associated with correct knowledge (phases A/B, drugs collection at usual pharmacy, drugs categories).

Results 125 patients were included (phase A: 56; phase B: 69). Drug information leaflets were given to 63/69 ED patients (91%), covering 96/138 prescribed drugs (70%). Parental knowledge was significantly improved in phase B (dose: 62.3% to 89.1%; frequency: 57.9% to 85.5%; duration: 34.2% to 66.7%; indication: 70.2% to 94.9%; p<0.0001). Phase B and collection of drugs at usual pharmacy were significant factors associated with correct knowledge.

Conclusions Drug information leaflets significantly improved treatment knowledge of French-speaking parents after paediatric ED discharge. Leaflets are now available online for general population.