Hansmukh Jain
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, India
Title: Medication error in pediatric outpatient prescription in a tertiary care institute
Biography
Biography: Hansmukh Jain
Abstract
Statement of Problem: Medication error in pediatric outpatient prescription in a tertiary care institute, the dosing error is more common in children than adults because of weight base dose calculation, fractional dosing (e.g., mg vs. gm) and the need for decimal points. Previous study has been shown that dosing errors occurs in up to 17.8% of hospitalized children.
Objective: To determine the medication errors in pediatric outpatient practice at a tertiary care institute, East Indian Design: Hospital based cross sectional study. Setting of study: pediatric outpatient department of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Patna, 2014 May and June.
Methodology: 40 outpatient pediatric prescriptions were evaluated for drug dosage error.
Results: Out of 40 prescriptions, in 4 (10%) papers, there was no mention of provisional clinical diagnosis and 7 papers (17%) had dosage error. In 21 (52.5%) cases there was no mention of route of administration of the drugs. For an effective utilization of resource spent on drugs it is essential that the prescribing and administration of the drug must be evaluated from time to time to quantify the error in it and to look for possible solution for it. The error of omission is where prescription is incomplete in some ways, whereas, error of commission containing incorrect information.
Conclusion: Dosing error in pediatric outpatient department is a common problem. Training regarding writing of prescription is essential for the residents before they are posted in pediatrics OPD. Intermittent continuous medical education of residents is required on regular basis. The nurses should update knowledge in medication error which is one of the most common types of medical error that contribute to the morbidity of children in outpatient department. It is common in children than adults because of weight base dose calculation, fractional dosing (e.g., mg vs. gm) and the need for decimal points.