Medication Transcription Errors at a Tertiary Healthcare Facility in Uva Province, Sri Lanka: A Retrospective study

Medication transcription is an error-prone process in healthcare settings with paper-based documentation. However, it is often preventable. In Sri Lanka, a uniform medication chart is not currently in use.

To describe transcription errors with the aim of designing a standardized drug chart to minimize the transcription errors at a tertiary care facility in Uva province, Sri Lanka.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in selected units at Provincial General Hospital, Badulla. All discharged patients after a minimum of 72 hours hospital stay were included. The drug charts of bedhead tickets were scrutinized for transcription errors.

At the time of study, four types of charts were in use. In total 272 drug charts, the median number of drugs was 9 (Interquartile range - IQR 6-12). Median length of patient's stay was 4 days (IQR 3-6). We encountered at least one transcription error of medication details in 88.6% charts. Amongst, medication name transcription error was the most common (220, 80.9%) followed by route (114, 41.9%) and frequency errors (70, 25.7%). During transcribing drug names, majority of charts had spelling errors (203, 74.6%). Although there was a statistically significant association between number of prescribed drugs and presence of at least one medication transcription error (p<.001), there was no significant association to number of days of patient stay (p=.99).

The selected center has a significantly high prevalence of medication transcription errors. Hence, introducing a uniform medication administration chart is encouraged to minimize the opportunities for adverse patient outcomes.