The epidemiology and type of medication errors reported to the National Poisons Information Centre of Ireland.

INTRODUCTION: Medication errors are widely reported for hospitalised patients, but limited data are available for medication errors that occur in community-based and clinical settings. Epidemiological data from poisons information centres enable characterisation of trends in medication errors occurring across the healthcare spectrum.

AIM: The objective of this study was to characterise the epidemiology and type of medication errors reported to the National Poisons Information Centre (NPIC) of Ireland.

METHODS: A 3-year prospective study on medication errors reported to the NPIC was conducted from 1 January 2007 to 31 December 2009 inclusive. Data on patient demographics, enquiry source, location, pharmaceutical agent(s), type of medication error, and treatment advice were collated from standardised call report forms. Medication errors were categorised as (i) prescribing error (i.e. physician error), (ii) dispensing error (i.e. pharmacy error), and (iii) administration error involving the wrong medication, the wrong dose, wrong route, or the wrong time.

RESULTS: Medication errors were reported for 2348 individuals, representing 9.56% of total enquiries to the NPIC over 3 years. In total, 1220 children and adolescents under 18 years of age and 1128 adults (≥ 18 years old) experienced a medication error. The majority of enquiries were received from healthcare professionals, but members of the public accounted for 31.3% (n = 736) of enquiries. Most medication errors occurred in a domestic setting (n = 2135), but a small number occurred in healthcare facilities: nursing homes (n = 110, 4.68%), hospitals (n = 53, 2.26%), and general practitioner surgeries (n = 32, 1.36%). In children, medication errors with non-prescription pharmaceuticals predominated (n = 722) and anti-pyretics and non-opioid analgesics, anti-bacterials, and cough and cold preparations were the main pharmaceutical classes involved. Medication errors with prescription medication predominated for adults (n = 866) and the major medication classes included anti-pyretics and non-opioid analgesics, psychoanaleptics, and psychleptic agents. Approximately 97% (n = 2279) of medication errors were as a result of drug administration errors (comprising a double dose [n = 1040], wrong dose [n = 395], wrong medication [n = 597], wrong route [n = 133], and wrong time [n = 110]). Prescribing and dispensing errors accounted for 0.68% (n = 16) and 2.26% (n = 53) of errors, respectively.

CONCLUSION: Empirical data from poisons information centres facilitate the characterisation of medication errors occurring in the community and across the healthcare spectrum. Poison centre data facilitate the detection of subtle trends in medication errors and can contribute to pharmacovigilance. Collaboration between pharmaceutical manufacturers, consumers, medical, and regulatory communities is needed to advance patient safety and reduce medication errors.