Abstract:
As the population continues to age, the occurrence of chronic illnesses and comorbidities that often necessitate the use of polypharmacy has been on the rise. Polypharmacy, among other factors that tend to coincide with chronic diseases, such as obesity, impaired kidney and liver function, and older age, can increase the risk of medication errors (MEs). Our study aims to evaluate the prevalence of MEs in the Internal medicine, Cardiology, and Neurology departments at the secondary-level university hospital. We conducted a prospective observational study of 145 patients\' electronic or paper-based data of inpatient prescriptions and patients\' pharmacokinetic risk factors, such as an impairment of renal and/or hepatic function, weight, and age. All included patients collectively received 1252 prescribed drugs. The median (Q1; Q3) number of drugs per patient was 8 (7;10). At least one ME was identified in 133 out of the 145 patients, indicating a significantly higher prevalence than hypothesized (91.7% vs. 50%; p < .001). There was moderate, positive correlation between the quantity of prescribed drugs and the number of MEs, meaning that the more drugs are prescribed, the higher the number of identified MEs (Spearman\'s ρ = 0.428; p < .001). These findings suggest that there is a need for continuous medication education activity for prescribing physicians, continuous evaluation of prescription appropriateness to objectively identify the MEs and to contribute to more rational patient treatment.
摘要:
随着人口的不断老龄化,慢性疾病和合并症的发生往往需要使用多药方。多药,在其他倾向于与慢性病一致的因素中,比如肥胖,肾功能和肝功能受损,年龄更大,会增加用药错误(ME)的风险。我们的研究旨在评估MES在内科的患病率,心脏病学,和二级大学医院的神经内科。我们对145名患者进行了一项前瞻性观察性研究,包括住院处方和患者药代动力学危险因素的电子或纸质数据,如肾功能和/或肝功能受损,体重,和年龄。所有包括在内的患者总共接受了1252种处方药。每位患者的药物数量中位数(Q1;Q3)为8(7;10)。在145名患者中的133名患者中至少发现了一名ME,表明患病率明显高于假设(91.7%与50%;p<.001)。有适度的,处方药数量与MEs数量呈正相关,这意味着处方的药物越多,识别的MEs数量越高(斯皮尔曼的ρ=0.428;p<.001)。这些发现表明,处方医生需要持续的药物教育活动,不断评估处方的适当性,以客观地识别MEs,并有助于更合理的患者治疗。