Medication safety: patients' experiences, beliefs, and behaviors

To measure patients' experiences with medication errors and examine how these experiences relate to their beliefs about pharmacy safety and their engagement in medication-safety behaviors.

Cross-sectional study.

Primarily Michigan.

920 employees and retirees from the University of Michigan.

Mail survey.

Patients' experiences, beliefs, and behaviors related to medication safety.

Of the respondents, 168 (18.3%) reported that they had experienced a medication error at some time in their lives and 193 (21.0%) knew a family member or friend who experienced an error; 63 (6.8%) had experienced an error within the past year and 5 (0.5%) had required additional medical attention because of an error. The majority of respondents did not worry about pharmacy safety and generally believed that the drug dispensing process at their pharmacy was safe. Approximately 80%-90% of respondents engaged in basic safety-related behaviors when receiving a prescription medication (e.g., checked for their name on the label or checked the directions on the label). While 72.3% of respondents reported that they read the medication pamphlet provided by the pharmacy, only 27.3% talked to the pharmacist about their medications. Respondents who had personal experiences with medication errors--or knew someone who had encountered such errors--had lower perceptions of pharmacy safety and were more likely to engage in several safety-related behaviors.

Patients who have experienced medication errors have lower perceptions of pharmacy safety and are more likely to engage in behaviors to protect themselves from future errors, as compared with those who have not had an error experience.