The Pharmacoepidemiology of Medication Errors

Medication Errors in Compounding Pharmacy

“…However, a recent meta-analysis study found a prevalence rate from 2% to 94% of medication errors in the set of studies observed 6 . There was a large discrepancy in the prevalence rates of medication errors among those studies, which was explained by the diff erent detection approaches, mainly for the diff erent methods to determine the numerators (number of medication errors) and their denominators (sample where the medication errors are entered), making it diffi cult to compare rates among diff erent studies 3 . Herein the medication error index was obtained by dividing the frequency of medication errors (numerator) by the number of visits in the period (denominator) -in other words, the number of occurrences divided by the number of opportunities for occurrences.…”

“…The professionals' mistaken perception that associates reporting medication errors with punitive actions is a high obstacle 5 . Although the number of incidents is roughly real due to the non-reported events, this approach has a relatively low cost as the collected data is a byproduct of routine care 3,32 .…”

“…Pharmacovigilance in the pharmacy school must consider all the activities that might cause medication errors, from the issue identification, assessment or understanding to the prevention of adverse events, using systematic surveillance 2 . Adverse events are any damage or injury caused to the patient by the medical intervention through medications, and may come from unintentional acts 3 . In this context, medication errors, in theory, may refer to the mistaken patient, the wrong medication, the wrong galenic formulation, the wrong dosage or administration route 3 .…”

“…Adverse events are any damage or injury caused to the patient by the medical intervention through medications, and may come from unintentional acts 3 . In this context, medication errors, in theory, may refer to the mistaken patient, the wrong medication, the wrong galenic formulation, the wrong dosage or administration route 3 . Medication errors are frequent but fortunately only a small proportion results in some damage 4 .…”

“…Thus, medication errors with potential damage are called potential adverse events; these errors can be intercepted before they reach the patient, or reach the patient without consequence. Therefore, a medication error is considered a preventable adverse event 3 .…”