Patterns of Medication Errors Involving Older Adults Reported to the French Medication Error Guichet

The aims of the study were to describe medication errors (MEs) involving older adults reported to the French Medication Error Guichet and to compare them with MEs in younger adults, in each of the hospital and community settings.

Retrospective secondary data analysis of MEs reported throughout 2013 to 2017 was performed. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed to compare actual and potential ME reports between older adults (aged ≥60 y) and younger adults (aged ≥18, <60 y).

We analyzed 4979 reports. In older adults, both in hospital (n = 1329) and community (n = 1264) settings, antithrombotic agents were frequently reported in MEs and were significantly more likely to be associated with reported MEs in older adults compared with younger adults. In hospital setting, antibacterials for systemic use (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.87, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.19-2.93) and antineoplastic agents (aOR = 2.22, 95% CI = 1.34-3.69), whereas in community setting, psycholeptics (aOR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.04-1.98) and drugs used in diabetes (aOR = 6.01, 95% CI = 3.21-11.2) were more likely to be associated with reported MEs in older adults. In both settings, wrong dose and wrong drug were the most frequently reported error types in older adults; however, wrong technique error type (aOR = 2.06, 95% CI = 1.30-3.28) in hospital setting and wrong patient (aOR = 2.17, 95% CI = 1.30-3.60) in community setting were more likely to be associated with reported MEs in older adults.

We identified specific ME patterns for older adults, including antithrombotic agents in both settings; antibacterials for systemic use, antineoplastic agents, and wrong technique in hospital setting; and psycholeptics, drugs used in diabetes, and wrong patient in community setting. These findings inform future studies investigating population-specific medication safety strategies.