Pharmaceutical validation as a process of improving the quality of antineoplastic treatment

Abstract

Objective: To quantify the improvement added by standardization of pharmaceutical validation (PV) of antineoplastic treatment to the processes of prescription and preparation of the pharmacotherapeutic sequence, in terms of prevention and reduction of medication errors (ME).

Design: Prospective cohort study during two years (from 2001-2002) for oncohaematologic patients (inpatients and outpatients) that compared the percentage of medication errors detected and resolved and the number of medication errors with potential clinical significance (severity value >or=4) intercepted during PV in both years.

Results: During the PV processes, 202 ME were identified and resolved, which is the equivalent of 16.88 ME/1,000 patient-days. In 2001 14.08 ME/1,000 patient-days were detected and 19.83 ME/1,000 patient-days in 2002. This means that the effectiveness of the identification method increased by 41%. The number of ME intercepted with clinical significance (severity value >or=4) increased in a statistically significant manner by 2.18 times in 2002.

Conclusion: This study shows that the standardization of PV is an effective method of improving the quality of antineoplastic treatment use, by increasing the ability to intercept ME.