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Medication Errors in the Southeast Asian Countries: A Systematic Review.
Shahrzad Salmasi1, Tahir Mehmood Khan1, Yet Hoi Hong2
1School of Pharmacy, Monash University Malaysia, Sunway City, Selangor, Malaysia.
Plos One
|September 5, 2015
Summary
Medication errors are common in Southeast Asia, with administration errors like incorrect timing or dosage being most frequent. More research is urgently needed to understand and address these issues in the region.
Area of Science:
- Pharmacovigilance
- Healthcare Quality Improvement
- Patient Safety
Background:
- Medication errors (ME) are a global concern, yet data from Southeast Asia remains scarce.
- Most existing research on ME originates from developed nations, leaving a knowledge gap in this region.
Purpose of the Study:
- To systematically review existing research on medication errors in Southeast Asian countries.
- To identify prevalent types of medication errors and estimate their incidence in the region.
Main Methods:
- A systematic literature review was conducted in December 2014.
- Searches utilized Embase, Medline, Pubmed, ProQuest Central, and CINAHL databases.
- Inclusion criteria encompassed studies on ME incidence and contributing factors in all age groups, regardless of language.
Main Results:
- Seventeen studies were included, reporting data from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Indonesia.
- Administration errors were most common (11 studies), followed by prescribing (4), preparation (3), dispensing (3), and transcribing (2) errors.
- No data on ME was found for Brunei, Laos, Cambodia, Myanmar, and Timor.
Conclusions:
- Frequent administration errors include incorrect timing, omissions, and incorrect doses.
- Contributing factors identified include staff shortages, heavy workloads, distractions, and misinterpretation of charts.
- A significant lack of research on medication errors in Southeast Asia requires urgent attention.
