Prescription errors in brazilian hospitals: a multi-centre exploratory survey
Carregando...
Data
2009-02
Título da Revista
ISSN da Revista
Título de Volume
Editor
Resumo
In Brazil, millions of prescriptions do not follow
the legal requirements necessary to guarantee the
correct dispensing and administration of medication.
This multi-centre exploratory study aimed
to analyze the appropriateness of prescriptions
at four Brazilian hospitals and to identify possible
errors caused by inadequacies. The sample
consisted of 864 prescriptions obtained at hospital
medical clinics in January 2003. Data was
collected by three nurse researchers during one
week using a standard data sheet that included
items about: the type of prescription; legibility;
completeness; use of abbreviations; existence of
changes and erasures. There were statistically significant
differences between incomplete electronic
prescriptions at hospital A, and handwritten
ones from hospitals C (χ2 = 12.703 and p < 0.001)
and D (χ2 = 14.074 and p < 0.001). Abbreviations
were used in more than 80% of prescriptions at
hospitals B, C and D. Changes were found in
prescriptions at all hospitals, with higher levels
at hospitals B (35.2%) and A (25.3%). This study
identified a range of vulnerable points in the prescription
phase of the medication system at the
hospitals. Physicians, pharmacists and nurses
should therefore jointly propose strategies to
avoid these prescription errors.
Descrição
Palavras-chave
Medication errors, Medication systems, Drug prescriptions, Erros de medicação, Sistemas de medicação, Prescrição de medicamentos
Citação
MIASSO, Adriana Inocenti; OLIVEIRA, Regina Célia de; SILVA, Ana Elisa Bauer Camargo; LYRA JUNIOR, Divaldo Pereira; GIMENES, Fernanda Raphael Escobar; FAKIH, Flávio Trevisan; CASSIANI, Silvia Helena de Bortoli. Prescription errors in brazilian hospitals: a multi-centre exploratory survey. Cadernos de Saúde Pública, Rio de Janeiro, v. 25, n. 2, p. 313-320, Feb. 2009.