Medication discrepancies in a hospital in Southern Brazil: the importance of medication reconciliation for patient safety
Braz. J. Pharm. Sci. (Online)
;
57: e18064, 2021. tab, graf
Article
in English
| LILACS
| ID: biblio-1339301
ABSTRACT
Medication discrepancies are of great concern in hospitals because they pose risks to patients and increase health care costs. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of inconsistent medication prescriptions to adult patients admitted to a hospital in southern Santa Catarina, Brazil. This was a patient safety study on patients recruited between November 2015 and June 2016. The participants were interviewed and had their medical records reviewed. Discrepant medications were considered those that did not match between the list of medicines taken at home and the prescribed drugs for treatment in a hospital setting. Of the 394 patients included, 98.5% took continuous-use medications at home, with an average of 5.5 medications per patient. Discrepancies totaled 80.2%, The independent variables associated with the discrepancies were systemic arterial hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, vascular disease, number of medications taken at home, and poor documentation of the medications in the medical record. Findings from this study allowed us to conclude there was a high rate of prescription medication misuse. Medication reconciliation is crucial in reducing these errors. Pharmacists can help reduce these medication-related errors and the associated risks and complications.
Full text:
Available
Index:
LILACS (Americas)
Main subject:
Pharmacists
/
Drug Prescriptions
/
Health Care Costs
/
Medication Reconciliation
/
Medication Errors
Type of study:
Risk factors
Limits:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Aged
/
Aged80
/
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Country/Region as subject:
South America
/
Brazil
Language:
English
Journal:
Braz. J. Pharm. Sci. (Online)
Journal subject:
Farmacologia
/
Teraputica
/
Toxicologia
Year:
2021
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Brazil
Institution/Affiliation country:
Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina/BR
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