Department of Pharmacy, Hospital Tengku Ampuan Rahimah, Jalan Langat, 41200, Klang, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.
Int J Clin Pharm. 2020 Apr;42(2):604-609. doi: 10.1007/s11096-020-00996-4. Epub 2020 Feb 25.
Background Prescribing errors in children are common due to individualization of dosage regimen. It potentially has a great impact especially in this vulnerable population. Objective To determine the prevalence and common types of prescribing errors in a Malaysian pediatric outpatient department and to determine the factors contributing to prescribing errors. Setting Pediatric Outpatient Department and Outpatient Pharmacy at a tertiary care hospital in Malaysia. Method This is a prospective, cross sectional observational study where all new prescriptions received by the outpatient pharmacy from patients attending pediatric out-patient clinic were included for analysis. Descriptive statistics and logistic regression were used to analyze the data. Main outcome measure Frequency, types, potential clinical consequences and contributing factors of prescribing errors. Results Two hundred and fifty new prescriptions with 493 items were analyzed. There were 13 per 100 prescriptions with at least one prescribing error and 7.3% of the total items were prescribed incorrectly. The most common types of prescribing error were, an ambiguous prescription (61.1%) followed by an unrecommended dose regimen (13.9%). Logistic regression analysis showed that the risk of a prescribing error significantly increased when the prescription was written by a house officer (OR 4.72, p = 0.029). Errors were judged to be potentially non-significant (33.3%), significant (36.1%), or serious (30.6%). Conclusion The experience of prescribers is an important factor that contributes to prescribing errors in pediatrics. Many of the errors made were potentially serious and may impact on the patients' well-being.
由于剂量方案的个体化，儿童用药错误很常见。这对儿童这一弱势群体的影响尤其大。目的：确定马来西亚儿科门诊开处方错误的发生率和常见类型，并确定导致处方错误的因素。地点：马来西亚一家三级保健医院的儿科门诊和门诊药房。方法：这是一项前瞻性、横断面观察性研究，分析了门诊药房从儿科门诊患者处收到的所有新处方。采用描述性统计和逻辑回归分析数据。主要结局测量：开处方错误的频率、类型、潜在临床后果和促成因素。结果：共分析了 250 份新处方，共 493 项。每 100 份处方中有 13 份至少有一处开处方错误，总项目中有 7.3%开错了。最常见的开处方错误类型是，处方含糊不清（61.1%），其次是剂量方案不推荐（13.9%）。逻辑回归分析显示，当处方由住院医师开具时，开处方错误的风险显著增加（OR 4.72，p = 0.029）。判断错误为潜在非显著（33.3%）、显著（36.1%）或严重（30.6%）。结论：医师的经验是导致儿科开处方错误的一个重要因素。所犯的许多错误可能是潜在严重的，可能会影响患者的健康。
