Factors associated with medication error at a teaching hospital in Malaysia
Zayyanu Shitu, Myat Moe Thwe Aung, Tuan Hairulnizam Tuan Kamauzaman and Ab Fatah Ab Rahman
Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Malaysia
Universiti Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
: J Pharm Sci Emerg Drugs
Abstract
Medication error (ME) is the harm caused to the patients during medication process in the hands of both healthcare practitioners and patients. It continues to pose a significant problem to health care systems across the world, not only causing harm and death in hospital patients but also consuming approximately $42 billion annually in healthcare expenditure. Little is known about associated factors of ME in the emergency department (ED) of hospitals in Malaysia. The objective of this study was to determine the factors associated with ME in an ED of hospital. A cross-sectional study was conducted on patients who visited the ED of Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia over nine weeks (8 am–5 pm). A total of 547 Patient’s demographic information, clinical characteristics, medication orders and procedures were observed and recorded using a designed data collection form, out of which 311 patients were selected randomly. Multiple logistic regressions were employed to determine factors associated with ME among the observed patients. 95 (30.5%) of the patients had at least one ME. The factors found to be associated with ME were number of medications (poly-pharmacy) (adjusted (OR) 1.91 (95%CI: 1.51, 2.41)), triage (adjusted (OR) 0.11 (95%CI: 0.04, 0.27)), gender (adjusted (OR) 0.50 (95%CI: 0.26, 0.93)) and time of patient visit (adjusted (OR) 0.34 (0.52, 0.75)). Intervention measures such as the use of clinical pharmacist and informatics should take into account the associated factors.
Biography
Zayyanu Shitu is pursuing MSc at Faculty of Health Science, Universiti Sultan Zaianal Abidin, Kuala Terengganu Malaysia, under the supervision of Professor Dr. Ab Fatah Bin Ab Rahman. He is currently conducting a research on the prevalence and associated factors of medication error in a Malaysian Hospital. So far he has published one paper, with three more in view.
E-mail: morex2009@gmail.com
