ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To know how medicines should be administered, to detect if there are any interaction whith food and the most frequent errors. METHOD: A descriptive study has been carried out in two health centres where we have evaluated if the oral medicines have been correctly dispensed. So as to do this, the summary of medicines' characteristics and/or medicine prospects were used. RESULTS: The daily administered medication for 40 patients was evaluated during one day in two different hospitals. We administered 274 medicines in hospital A and 238 medicines in hospital B wich correspond to 344 and 330 oral dosis. In hospital A 138 (23,4%) mistakes were made and another 65 potential errors were detected. It is unsure if these potential errors were made or not as we do not know if the medication was taken correctly by the patient. In hospital B 95 (25,0%) errors were committed. No other possible errors were observed. The most frequent errors that have been commited are: not to dilute the medication with water, to administer the medicine with milk and/or antiacid medicine, to take medicine with meals instead of taking them in abstinence. Not warning the pacient to swallow medicines without chewing them. Other errors were concerning the relationship between medication and meals. DISCUSSION: Many of the mistakes that are made when taking medicines are due to the lack of knowledge of the correct usage or lack of information.
