Identification of medication discrepancies during hospital admission in Jordan: Prevalence and risk factors

Medication errors are considered among the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in hospital setting. Among these errors are discrepancies identified during transfer of patients from one care unit to another, from one physician care to another, or upon patient discharge. Thus, the aims of this study were to identify the prevalence and types of medication discrepancies at the time of hospital admission to a tertiary care teaching hospital in Jordan and to identify risk factors affecting the occurrence of these discrepancies.

A three months prospective observational study was conducted at the department of internal medicine at Jordan university hospital. During the study period, 200 patients were selected using convenience sampling, and a pre-prepared data collection form was used for data collection. Later, a comparison between the pre-admission and admission medication was conducted to identify any possible discrepancies, and all of these discrepancies were discussed with the responsible resident to classify them into intentional (documentation errors) or unintentional. Linear regression analysis was performed to assess risk factors associated with the occurrence of unintentional discrepancies.

A total of 412 medication discrepancies were identified at the time of hospital admission. Among them, 144 (35%) were identified as unintentional while the remaining 268 (65%) were identified as intentional discrepancies. Ninety-four patients (47%) were found to have at least one unintentional discrepancy and 92 patients (46%) had at least one documentation error. Among the unintentional discrepancies, 97 (67%) were found to be associated with a potential harm/deterioration to the patients. Increasing patients' age (beta = 0.195, p-value = .013) and being treated by female residents (beta = 0.139, p-value = .045) were significantly associated with higher number of discrepancies.

The prevalence of unintentional discrepancies at the time of hospital admission was alarmingly high. Majority of these discrepancies were associated with a potential harm to the patients. These findings support the necessity for implementing the medication reconciliation service in the country, engaging healthcare providers in the process of identification and resolution of medication discrepancies.