Every eight minutes, a young child suffers an out-of-hospital medication error, usually at the hands of a parent or caregiver who unknowingly and unintentionally administers the wrong dosage.

Between the years 2002 and 2012, 63,000 children under age six experienced such medication errors, according to Nationwide Children’s Hospital researchers. The medicines most commonly associated with such errors are painkillers and fever-reducers, such as Advil and Tylenol. These medicine mistakes most commonly occur in the children’s home and at school.

Senior study author, Huiyun Xiang, MD, MPH, PhD, director of the Center for Pediatric Trauma Research at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, warns that these scenarios happen more frequently than the public may be aware of.

“This is more common than people may realize. The numbers we report still underestimate the true magnitude of these incidents since these are just cases reported to national poison centers. We found that younger children are more apt to experience error than older children, with children under age one accounting for 25 percent of incidents,” said Xiang in a statement.

Medication mistakes involve scenarios such as caregivers giving a child the same drug twice, administering the wrong dosage, or giving the wrong medication altogether.

The researchers stress the importance of more clear and easier-to-understand package labeling that is designed in such a way as to provide more accurate dosing instructions and devices.

The findings of the study are published online in Pediatrics.