Illegibility and lack of information in medical prescriptions: risk factors related to medication errors - doi:10.5020/18061230.2006.p84

Abstract

Medication errors can cause serious consequences to patients, professionals and healthcare institutions. They have multiple causes, amongst them, the prescriptions’ illegibility and lack of information. A study of medical prescriptions was conducted in order to analyze the frequency of risk factors related to medication errors. A quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study was held from May to July, 2004. 167 medicine prescriptions from medical, pediatric and obstetric clinics of Nossa Senhora da Conceição Hospital (Fortaleza- CE) were analyzed. Each prescription was retrospectively evaluated by a pharmacy student and a pharmacist. The prescription legibility was classified in legible, less legible and illegible. The lack of information about the patient, the prescribers and the prescribed drugs, as well as the use of abbreviation and drug designation (generic and commercial) were also examined. 78 (46.7%) prescriptions were considered illegible. The main informations missing on the analyzed prescriptions (n=808) were pharmaceutical form (84.0%) and concentration (61.5%). Abbreviations were mostly used when referred to the route of drug administration (37.2%) and posology (35.3%). The generic designation was present in 63.4% of the prescriptions. The prescriber identification was illegible in 147 (88.0%) prescriptions. Data suggest the need of implementing, along with the prescribers, measures to reinforce the benefits of a correct and complete prescription and that, by means of organizational, technological and educational improvement, risk to patients from medication errors should be reduced.