Sabblah George Tsey, van Hunsel Florence, Taxis Katja, Duwiejua Mahama, Seaneke Seth Kwaku, van Puijenbroek Eugène
Food and Drugs Authority, P.O. Box CT 2783, Cantonments, Accra, Ghana.
PharmacoTherapy, Epidemiology and Economics, Groningen Research Institute of Pharmacy, University of Groningen, Antonius Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands.
Ther Adv Drug Saf. 2024 Jan 27;15:20420986231225850. doi: 10.1177/20420986231225850. eCollection 2024.
Medication errors (MEs) by caregivers at home are a cause of morbidity and mortality, shortly after discharge from the hospital.
The objective of this study was to determine the rate and types of MEs at the homes of children discharged from a hospital in Ghana and to explore the factors associated with these errors.
This was a cross-sectional study of infants and children discharged from the hospital to review medication administration practices.
Caregivers of children discharged from the hospital after at least 24 hours of admission were interviewed at their homes about medication administration practices. The study assessed potential harm associated with MEs made by caregivers using the Harm Associated with Medication Error Classification tool. The Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator regression were used to identify the variables associated with MEs.
A total of 95 children (mean age: 28.6 months, 52.6% female) and their caregivers were included. Overall, 65 (68.4%) children experienced one or more MEs. Out of a total of 232 medications reviewed, 102 (44.0%) (95% CI: 37.6-50.4) were associated with a ME. The top two errors, wrong time errors and errors in the frequency of dosing were, 45.1% and 21.6%, respectively. Understanding the information on the disease condition being treated and the medicines dispensed was associated with committing fewer MEs. The number of medicines prescribed was associated with a higher likelihood of MEs. Out of 102 MEs, 48 (47.1%) were assessed as posing potentially no harm, 26 (25.5%) minor harm, 15 (14.7%) moderate harm, and 13 (12.8%) serious harm to the patients. Importantly, none of the MEs were assessed as posing potentially severe or life-threatening harm to the patients.
MEs in children following discharge are high, and systems should be developed to prevent these errors.
在家中，护理人员的用药错误是导致患者出院后不久发病和死亡的一个原因。
本研究的目的是确定加纳一家医院出院儿童在家中的用药错误发生率和类型，并探讨与这些错误相关的因素。
这是一项对出院的婴儿和儿童进行的横断面研究，以审查用药管理实践。
对入院至少24小时后出院的儿童的护理人员进行家访，询问其用药管理实践情况。该研究使用与用药错误相关的危害分类工具评估护理人员所犯用药错误的潜在危害。采用最小绝对收缩和选择算子回归来确定与用药错误相关的变量。
共纳入95名儿童（平均年龄：28.6个月，52.6%为女性）及其护理人员。总体而言，65名（68.4%）儿童发生了一种或多种用药错误。在总共审查的232种药物中，102种（44.0%）（95%置信区间：37.6 - 50.4）与用药错误有关。前两种错误，即给药时间错误和给药频率错误，分别占45.1%和21.6%。对正在治疗的疾病状况和所配药物信息的了解与较少的用药错误相关。所开药物的数量与更高的用药错误可能性相关。在102次用药错误中，48次（47.1%）被评估为对患者可能无危害，26次（25.5%）为轻度危害，15次（14.7%）为中度危害，13次（12.8%）为严重危害。重要的是，没有一次用药错误被评估为对患者有潜在的严重或危及生命的危害。
出院后儿童的用药错误发生率很高，应建立相关系统来预防这些错误。
