Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Endocrinology and Diabetology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Styria, Austria.
Department of General Otorhinolaryngology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
PLoS One. 2022 Apr 28;17(4):e0267570. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0267570. eCollection 2022.
Drug errors pose a major health hazard to a number of patient populations. However, patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus seem especially vulnerable to this risk as diabetes mellitus is usually concomitant with various comorbidities and polypharmacy, which present significant risk factors for the occurrence of drug errors. Despite this fact, there is little data on drug errors from patients' perspective. The present survey aimed to examine the viewpoints of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus regarding their experiences with medication errors, the overall treatment satisfaction, and their perceptions on how a medication error was handled in daily hospital routine.
Inpatients at the Department of Endocrinology and Diabetology of the University Hospital of Graz were included in the survey. Out of 100 patients, one-half had insulin therapy before hospitalization while the other half had no insulin therapy prior to admission. After giving informed consent, patients filled out a questionnaire with 22 items.
Independent of their preexisting therapy, 25% of patients already suffered at least one drug error, whereby prescribing a wrong dose seemed to be the most common type of error. Furthermore, 26% of patients in the non-insulin versus 50% in the insulin group (p = 0.084) were convinced that drug errors were addressed honestly by the medical staff, while 54% in the non-insulin versus 80% in the insulin-group (p = 0.061) assumed that adequate measures were taken to prevent drug errors. Finally, 9 out of 10 patients seemed satisfied with their treatment regardless of their diabetes therapy.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: The results of the survey clearly showed that patients experienced at least one medication error during hospitalization. However, these errors only rarely led to patient harm. The survey also revealed the value of an honest and respectful doctor-patient relationship regarding patient perception of medication errors and general complaints. Increasing patient awareness on the existing in-hospital error management systems could eliminate treatment-related concerns and create a climate of trust that is essential for effective treatment.
药物错误对许多患者群体构成重大健康危害。然而，2 型糖尿病患者似乎特别容易受到这种风险的影响，因为糖尿病通常伴有各种合并症和多药治疗，这是药物错误发生的重大危险因素。尽管如此，从患者角度来看，关于药物错误的数据很少。本调查旨在检查 2 型糖尿病患者对其药物错误经历的看法、总体治疗满意度以及他们对日常医院常规中药物错误处理方式的看法。
该调查纳入了格拉茨大学医院内分泌科和糖尿病科的住院患者。100 名患者中，有一半在住院前接受胰岛素治疗，另一半在入院前没有胰岛素治疗。在获得知情同意后，患者填写了一份包含 22 个项目的问卷。
无论他们是否存在预先存在的治疗，25%的患者已经至少经历了一次药物错误，其中开错剂量似乎是最常见的错误类型。此外，非胰岛素组中 26%的患者（p=0.084）确信医务人员诚实地处理了药物错误，而非胰岛素组中 54%的患者（p=0.061）则认为已采取充分措施预防药物错误。最后，9 成患者无论接受何种糖尿病治疗，对自己的治疗都感到满意。
讨论/结论：调查结果清楚地表明，患者在住院期间至少经历了一次用药错误。然而，这些错误很少导致患者受到伤害。该调查还揭示了诚实和尊重的医患关系在患者对药物错误和一般投诉的看法方面的价值。提高患者对现有院内错误管理系统的认识，可以消除与治疗相关的担忧，并营造信任氛围，这对有效治疗至关重要。
