Almazrou Dlal, Egunsola Oluwaseun, Ali Sheraz, Bagalb Amal
Pharmaceutical Care Services, King Saud Medical City, Ministry of Health, Riyadh, SAU.
Department of Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, CAN.
Cureus. 2021 Jun 8;13(6):e15513. doi: 10.7759/cureus.15513. eCollection 2021 Jun.
Due to the need for early and effective medications for coronavirus disease (COVID-19), less attention may have been paid to medication safety during this pandemic.
This study aimed to examine the incidence, nature, and seriousness of medication errors (MEs) and adverse drug reactions (ADRs) among hospitalized patients with COVID-19.
This is a retrospective study of MEs and ADRs reported at the King Saud Medical City (KSMC) between April 2020 and September 2020.
A total of 343 MEs and 416 ADRs were reported during the study period. The incidence of MEs was 19% (19/100). Seventy-five MEs (21.5%) reached the patient but did not cause any harm. Wrong dose (n=101, 29.4%) was the most common type of MEs. Physicians were the most common source of MEs (87.5%). Antibiotics (32%) and antineoplastics (25%) were the most common drug categories involved in MEs and ADRs, respectively. Thirty-nine percent (n=163) of the ADRs were of serious nature. 24% (n=100) required hospitalization, 5% (n=21) were life-threatening, 16 (3.8%) required intervention to prevent permanent impairment or damage, and 6.2% (n=26) resulted in the discontinuation of treatment.
The reporting of MEs appears to be high among COVID-19 patients in a large tertiary care setting in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The majority of MEs were caused by dosing errors and errors in drug frequency, mostly ascribed to physicians, which may be indicative of burnout or stress among them. The reporting of MEs and ADRs can be improved by providing incentives to healthcare professionals (HCPs) and promoting a non-punitive culture. Further studies should explore the clinical consequences of medication misadventures in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
由于需要针对冠状病毒病（COVID-19）使用早期有效的药物，在这场大流行期间，药物安全性可能较少受到关注。
本研究旨在调查COVID-19住院患者中用药错误（MEs）和药物不良反应（ADRs）的发生率、性质及严重程度。
这是一项对2020年4月至2020年9月在沙特国王医疗城（KSMC）报告的MEs和ADRs进行的回顾性研究。
在研究期间共报告了343起MEs和416起ADRs。MEs的发生率为19%（19/100）。75起MEs（21.5%）影响到了患者，但未造成任何伤害。错误剂量（n = 101，29.4%）是最常见的MEs类型。医生是MEs最常见的来源（87.5%）。抗生素（32%）和抗肿瘤药（25%）分别是涉及MEs和ADRs最常见的药物类别。39%（n = 163）的ADRs性质严重。24%（n = 100）需要住院治疗，5%（n = 21）危及生命，16起（3.8%）需要干预以防止永久性损伤或损害，6.2%（n = 26）导致治疗中断。
在沙特阿拉伯王国（KSA）一家大型三级医疗机构中，COVID-19患者的MEs报告率似乎较高。大多数MEs是由剂量错误和用药频率错误引起的，主要归因于医生，这可能表明他们存在倦怠或压力。通过向医疗保健专业人员（HCPs）提供激励措施并促进非惩罚性文化，可以提高MEs和ADRs的报告率。进一步的研究应探讨住院COVID-19患者用药意外事件的临床后果。
