A study on identification of medication error in a Tertiary Care Hospital, Chennai

Abstract

Background: Medication errors have become an increasing threat in compromising patient’s quality of life. This study sought to identify the occurrence of medication error in a tertiary care hospital. The objective behind the study is to find out the prevalence of medication error, their source and reasons behind its occurrence in a tertiary hospital care setting in Chennai. Method: A prospective observational study was done for six months duration with the help of patient treatment chart, prescriptions and nursing administration records. Data was collected using a medication error identification form. A total of 174 records were collected from cardiology, general medicine, gynaecology, gastroenterology, neurology, nephrology, orthopaedics, oncology and pulmonology departments. Among the 174 patient records, 120 medication error came into notice. Results: Among 120 medication errors, 32.5% (39) error happened during documentation of the patient medical records. Administration error were of 30% (36) followed by prescription error 25.83% (31), transcription error 7.5% (9) and dispensing error 4.16% (5). The source of medication error were studied during the survey and found that 70% of medication error were happened by nurses as they contributed for a large population of healthcare workers. 26% (31) medication error by physicians during prescribing medical orders and 4% (5) medication errors by pharmacist during drug dispensing occurred. Reasons behind the prevalence of medication error was also observed during the study and found that negligence/carelessness (41.6%) by the healthcare professionals was the ultimate reason for the occurrence of medication error followed by illegible prescriptions (32.5%), improper documentations (17.5%) and other miscellaneous factors (8.3%) during a hospital stay.