TY - JOUR
T1 - Medication errors at a diabetes management center in a resource-poor setting
AU - Obeng, Frank Yaw
AU - Amponsah, Seth Kwabena
AU - Ofori, Emmanuel Kwaku
AU - Afriyie, Daniel Kwame
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 - IOS Press. All rights reserved.
PY - 2024/8/29
Y1 - 2024/8/29
N2 - BACKGROUND: Medication errors are known to cause adverse drug reactions, hospital admissions and mortality. In most resource-poor settings, medication errors occur but are undocumented. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to investigate medication errors in a diabetic clinic at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Ghana. METHODS: The research combined both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The quantitative aspect involved retrospectively reviewing patient folders over two years (1st January 2019 to 31st December 2021). Patients' folders were reviewed to identify possible medication errors. The qualitative arm explored underlying factors and experiences related to medication errors through interviews with healthcare workers. Ten healthcare professionals at KATH were interviewed using an interview guide. RESULTS: A total of 264 patients' folders were retrieved. The majority (23.11%) of the patients were between 18 and 25 y.o., and there were more females (52.27%) than males. About 60% of the patients had diabetes and hypertension comorbidity. The overall prevalence of medication errors was 18.18%. The most prevalent type of medication error identified was wrong drug formulation (n = 19, 39.58%). About 47.92% of the medication errors resulted in adverse events and this was predominantly caused by antidiabetic drugs (47.83%) and anti-hypertensive drugs (34.78%). Patients in the age category of 26-35 y.o. [aOR: 0.31, CI: 0.11-0.90] had reduced odds of medication errors whilst patients with comorbidity of diabetes and hypertension [aOR: 5.95, CI: 2.43-14.60] had an increased odds of medication errors. Large patient population, low staff numbers and inadequate knowledge of drugs by healthcare workers were factors that contributed to medication errors. CONCLUSION: Medication errors was moderately high in this diabetic clinic, and the errors led to a number of adverse events. Age, diabetes and hypertension comorbidity, large patient population, low staff numbers, and inadequate knowledge about drugs were identified as factors that influenced medication errors.
AB - BACKGROUND: Medication errors are known to cause adverse drug reactions, hospital admissions and mortality. In most resource-poor settings, medication errors occur but are undocumented. OBJECTIVE: This study sought to investigate medication errors in a diabetic clinic at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), Ghana. METHODS: The research combined both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods. The quantitative aspect involved retrospectively reviewing patient folders over two years (1st January 2019 to 31st December 2021). Patients' folders were reviewed to identify possible medication errors. The qualitative arm explored underlying factors and experiences related to medication errors through interviews with healthcare workers. Ten healthcare professionals at KATH were interviewed using an interview guide. RESULTS: A total of 264 patients' folders were retrieved. The majority (23.11%) of the patients were between 18 and 25 y.o., and there were more females (52.27%) than males. About 60% of the patients had diabetes and hypertension comorbidity. The overall prevalence of medication errors was 18.18%. The most prevalent type of medication error identified was wrong drug formulation (n = 19, 39.58%). About 47.92% of the medication errors resulted in adverse events and this was predominantly caused by antidiabetic drugs (47.83%) and anti-hypertensive drugs (34.78%). Patients in the age category of 26-35 y.o. [aOR: 0.31, CI: 0.11-0.90] had reduced odds of medication errors whilst patients with comorbidity of diabetes and hypertension [aOR: 5.95, CI: 2.43-14.60] had an increased odds of medication errors. Large patient population, low staff numbers and inadequate knowledge of drugs by healthcare workers were factors that contributed to medication errors. CONCLUSION: Medication errors was moderately high in this diabetic clinic, and the errors led to a number of adverse events. Age, diabetes and hypertension comorbidity, large patient population, low staff numbers, and inadequate knowledge about drugs were identified as factors that influenced medication errors.
KW - Adverse events
KW - comorbidities
KW - diabetes
KW - medication error
KW - pharmaceuticals
KW - prescription
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85202906761&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3233/JRS-230062
DO - 10.3233/JRS-230062
M3 - Article
C2 - 38788093
AN - SCOPUS:85202906761
SN - 0924-6479
VL - 35
SP - 259
EP - 270
JO - International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine
JF - International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine
IS - 3
ER -