[Incomplete prescription: a potential medication error]

Abstract

Objective: According to the American Society of Health System Pharmacists, an incomplete or imprecise medial order comprises a prescription error. Such errors have potential consequences in terms of mortality, morbidity, prolonged hospital stay and, finally, in health care expenditure. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of incomplete prescriptions observed in a university hospital setting and identify the causes of such imprecisions.

Methods: A prospective analysis of prescriptions for oral medicines ordered by an internal medicine unit of a university hospital was conducted on a daily basis by a pharmaceutical team immediately after the orders were written. A complete prescription was defined as one with the following information: unit dose, formulation, number of doses per day, hour of administration, particular instructions for use.

Results: Among the 241 prescription lines analyzed during a 20 day period, 131 (54.2%) were incomplete. The number of doses per day was missing for 7.9%, unit dose for 6.2%, particular instructions for 4.9% and the formulation for 2.9%.

Discussion: These findings demonstrated the lack of quality of the prescriptions studied. A treatment scheme totally incompatible with quality prescriptions and a poor understanding of prescription quality were the most probable causes. These two elements reflect the gap between the outdated organizational scheme currently in use and appropriate implementation of the hospital drug distribution circuit.