[Translated article] Medication reconciliation in pediatric hemato-oncologic patients: A multicenter study

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
• Patient Safety
• Medication Management

Background:

• Medication reconciliation is crucial for patient safety during care transitions.
• Pediatric onco-hematology patients are a complex group with high medication needs.
• Understanding reconciliation error prevalence in this population is vital.

Purpose of the Study:

• To determine the prevalence of medication reconciliation errors in pediatric onco-hematology patients upon hospital admission.
• To compare susceptibility to errors with adult populations.
• To identify patient characteristics associated with these errors.

Main Methods:

• A 12-month prospective, multicenter study.
• Medication reconciliation performed on 157 pediatric onco-hematology patients at admission.
• Data collected on discrepancies, error types, and patient factors.

Main Results:

• Medication discrepancies were found in 96 out of 157 patients.
• 48.9% of discrepancies were classified as reconciliation errors.
• Omission of medication was the most frequent error type.
• Patients on ≥4 home medications had a 2.1-fold increased risk of errors.

Conclusions:

• Medication reconciliation errors are prevalent in pediatric onco-hematology patients.
• The number of home medications is a significant risk factor for reconciliation errors.
• Omission of medications is the primary type of error, necessitating targeted interventions.