Medication errors in children: A descriptive summary of medication error reports submitted to the United States pharmacopeia

被引：57

作者：

Cowley, E ^{[1
]}

Williams, R ^{[1
]}

Cousins, D ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] US Pharmacopeia, Practitioner & Prod Experience Dept, Rockville, MD 20852 USA

来源：

CURRENT THERAPEUTIC RESEARCH-CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL | 2001年 / 62卷 / 09期

基金：

美国医疗保健研究与质量局;

关键词：

medication errors; pediatric; adverse drug events; United States Pharmacopeia;

D O I：

10.1016/S0011-393X(01)80069-2

中图分类号：

R-3 [医学研究方法]; R3 [基础医学];

学科分类号：

1001 ;

摘要：

Background: Understanding where and how medication errors occur in the pediatric population can help raise awareness of potential and actual medication errors. In addition, this knowledge can contribute to the development of strategies to help improve the quality of health care in pediatric patients. Objective: To identify characteristics of medication errors in the pediatric population, we conducted a retrospective study of errors submitted by health care practitioners and other reporters to the United States Pharmacopeia's Medication Errors Reporting (MER) Program (presented in cooperation with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices) and to the USP MedMARx(SM) database. Methods: We performed a retrospective search for medication errors reported in the MER Program database from January 1, 1995, to December 31, 1999, and the MedMARx database from January 1, 1999, to December 31, 2000. Results: Pediatric patients were involved in 333 (9%) of 3818 error records submitted to the MER Program and in 1969 (5%) of 43,287 records submitted to the MedMARx database. In the MER Program, 104 (31%) of the 333 errors were cited as harmful or fatal, and 102 (5%) of the 1969 errors submitted to MedMARx were cited as harmful. Improper dose/quantity was the most frequently reported type of pediatric error among the 337 types of errors identified in the MER Program (157 [47%]); of the 2003 types of errors identified in MedMARx, the most frequently reported types were omission (543 [27%]) and improper dose/quantity (494 [25%]). The products involved most often (eg, intravenous fluids, including both premixed and extemporaneously compounded preparations) were similar in the 2 programs. Conclusions: Our data suggest that pediatric patients may be more vulnerable to adverse outcomes from medication errors than adult patients. Further error prevention and reduction strategies should be developed for the pediatric population.

引用

页码：627 / 640

页数：14