HMC Collaborative Pharmacy 2016 Conference Proceedings
Incidence, nature and causes of medication errors in hospitalised patients in Middle Eastern countries: A systematic review Binny Thomas1,2, Pallivalapilla Abdul Rouf1, Moza Al Hail1,2, Wessam El Kassem1, Doua Al saad1, Rajvir Singh1, Vibhu Paudyal2, Katie Maclure2, James McLay3, Derek Stewart2 ABSTRACT Address for Correspondence: Binny Thomas 1 Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar 2 Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen, UK 3 University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, UK Email:
[email protected]
http://dx.doi.org/10.5339/qmj.2017.HMCCPC.1 ª 2017 Thomas, Abdul Rouf, Al Hail, El Kassem, Al saad, Singh, Paudyal, Maclure, McLay, Stewart, licensee HBKU Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Cite this article as: Thomas B, Abdul Rouf P, Al Hail M, El Kassem W, Al saad D, Singh R, Paudyal V, Maclure K, McLay J, Stewart D. Incidence, nature and causes of medication errors in hospitalised patients in Middle Eastern countries: A systematic review, Qatar Medical Journal, HMC Collaborative Pharmacy Conference Proceedings 2017:1 http:// dx.doi.org/10.5339/qmj.2017.HMCCPC.1
Background and aim: Medication errors (MEs) are a major global issue, adversely impacting patient safety and health outcomes. Promoting patient safety through minimising MEs is therefore a key global healthcare objective. This study aims to systematically review the incidence, nature and causes of MEs in hospitalised patients in Middle Eastern countries. Method: A systematic search of studies related to MEs originated from Middle Eastern countries was performed using the following databases: MEDLINE, EMBASE, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycINFO, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR), Centre for Review and Dissemination (CRD) database, Joanna Briggs Institute Library. A systematic review protocol was developed and registered with the Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD). The title, abstract and full article were screened for inclusion. Each paper was assessed by two reviewers for methodological quality prior to inclusion in the review. Studies were critically appraised prior to data extraction and findings synthesised using a narrative approach. Results: Database searching identified 2611 studies; 51 met the inclusion criteria and originated from nine of fifteen Middle Eastern countries, largely Iran, Saudi Arabia and Israel. Preliminary review results indicate error incidence rates of between 11 and 90% of patients (depending on the method of data collection), with the categories of errors reported being mostly prescribing errors followed by administration, dispensing and transcribing. Deficiencies in staff knowledge, lack of experience, insufficient training, poor adherence with protocols
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and policies, miscommunication and excessive workload were identified as major causative factors. Conclusion: MEs occur at high rates of incidence in the Middle East. Causes of errors are multifactorial and should be targeted in future interventions, which are likely to be complex interventions at varying levels within the healthcare systems.
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This project is funded by QNRF (NPRP project NPRP– 388-3-095). Keywords: medication error, Middle East, causes, incidence, hospitalised patients
