Assessment of the degree of awareness among post-graduate medical physicians and Pharmacists about look-alike, sound-alike drug and potential medication errors (original) (raw)
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https://www.ijhsr.org/IJHSR\_Vol.7\_Issue.2\_Feb2017/IJHSR\_Abstract.050.html, 2017
In healthcare, drugs related confusions are one of the major contributors to the inappropriate use of drug therapy. Look-alike and sound-alike (LASA) drugs are a category of drugs having a high potential to confuse the healthcare professionals and patients due to their similar resemblance and pronunciation. Due to the confusing nature of LASA drugs, there is always a possibility of medication errors and potential harm to the patient. So, proper management is very essential to prevent the misuse of LASA drugs. Development, implementation and maintenance of medication policy are highly required for the proper management of medications and ensure patient's safety.
Medication Errors Associated with Look-alike/Sound-alike Drugs: A Brief Review
Journal of Enam Medical College, 2015
The existence of confusing drug names is one of the most common causes of medication errors. There are many types of medication errors: wrong drug, wrong dose, wrong route of administration, wrong patient etc. Misreading medication names that look similar is a common mistake. These look-alike medication names may also sound alike and can lead to errors associated with verbal prescriptions. Similar sounding drugs may produce confusion and may lead to unintended interchange of drugs causing harm to patients or even patient death. The main aim of the study was to evaluate medication errors related to look alikesound alike drug names and to find out the strategies to prevent these medication errors.
Quality Use of Medicines–medication safety issues in naming; look‐alike, sound‐alike medicine names
International …, 2012
Objective To review current literature with the objective of developing strategies and recommendations to enhance patient safety and minimise clinical issues with look-alike, sound-alike medication names. Methods A comprehensive search of the PubMed database and an Australian online repository of Quality Use of Medicines projects was conducted to identify publications addressing look-alike, sound-alike medication problems. Author networks, grey literature and the reference lists of published articles were also used to identify additional material. Key findings Thirty-two publications describing the extent of the specific problem and recommending solutions were identified. The majority of these publications provided a qualitative assessment of the issues, with few quantitative estimates of the severity of the problem and very little intervention research. As a result, most recommendations for addressing the problem are the result of expert deliberations and not experimental research. This will affect the capacity of the recommendations to ameliorate and resolve problems caused by look-alike, sound-alike medication names. Themes identified from articles included the nature and causes of look-alike, soundalike problems, potential solutions and recommendations. Conclusions There are many existing medications which can potentially cause clinical issues due to mix-ups because of similar sounding or looking medication names. This confusion can be lethal for some medication errors. A multifaceted, integrated approach involving all aspects of the medication use process, from initial naming of INN through to consumer education, is suggested to minimise this issue for medication safety.
2013
Medication errors are common in hospitals which may occur at prescribing, dispensing and administration level. The objective of this study was to evaluate the dispensing errors that occur mainly due to similar sounding and looking medicines. A cross-sectional and observational study was conducted at Nobel Medical College Pharmacy, Biratnagar, Nepal during the months of August and September 2010. Three dispensing staffs were observed every day from 9 am to 5 pm for errors made while dispensing. Besides, a survey of look-alike and sound-alike medicines available at the pharmacy and their placement in the shelves was also done. Various reported cases of dispensing errors due to similar sounding and looking medicines were found. There were about twelve similar sounding brand names with different constituents in the pharmacy. Additionally, prescriptions or medication slips containing inappropriate information also led to dispensing errors. There is an urgent need of considering the medic...
Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Care and Sciences, 2015
Background: Differences in error rates between pharmacists and nurses in terms of drug confirmation have not been studied. The purpose of this study was to analyze differences in error rates between pharmacists and nurses from the viewpoint of error categories, and to clarify differences in recognition regarding drug name similarity. Methods: In this study, preparation errors and incidents were classified into three categories (drug strength errors, drug name errors, and drug count errors) to investigate the influence of error categories on pharmacists and nurses. In addition, errors in two categories (drug strength errors and drug name errors) were reclassified into another two error groups, to investigate the influence of drug name similarity on pharmacists and nurses: a "drug name similarity (−) group" and a "drug name similarity (+) group". Then, differences in error rates of pharmacists and those of nurses were analyzed respectively within three categories and two groups. Furthermore, differences in error rates between pharmacists and nurses were analyzed in each of the three categories and two groups. Results: Error rates of pharmacists for both drug strength errors and drug name errors were significantly higher than that for drug count errors, and similar results were obtained for nurses (P < 0.05). However, there were no significant differences in error rates between pharmacists and nurses in each of the three categories. Furthermore, error rate of nurses was significantly higher than that of pharmacists in the drug name similarity (+) group (P < 0.05), while there was no significant difference in error rates between pharmacists and nurses in the drug name similarity (−) group. Conclusions: These results suggest that in contrast to pharmacists, nurses are easily affected by similarities in drug names. Therefore, pharmacists should offer information on medications having plural strengths or similar names to nurses, in order to minimize damage to patients resulting from errors.
Medical errors related to look-alike and sound-alike drugs
Anaesth Pain Intensive Care, 2013
Despite recent developments in the inventory management, introduction of electronic drug trolleys and cabinets, color coding of the filled syringes and many more interventions, medication errors could not be eliminated. The most common of these are syringe swap and human errors regarding wrong drug administration due to look-alike drug containers or sound-alike names of the drugs belonging to diverse groups. Many of the fatalities, that occur in third world countries due to these causes, go unnoticed and unregistered. This special article complements two special editorials on the same topic by Professor Joseph D. Tobias et al and Professor Robert Stoelting, a case report, a patient's perspective and a 'Cliniquiz' being published in the current issue of the journal. It discusses salient features of this issue as well as preventive measures and recommendations.
THE IMPORTANCE OF PHARMACIST KNOWLEDGE ABOUT DRUG NAMES AND CLASSES IN PREVENTING MEDICATION ERRORS
Fadlah Hasanah, 2021
Medication errors are a serious problem for health services worldwide because they can threaten patient safety. According to ISMP (2000), approximately 25% of medication errors reported to the Institute for Safe Practice (ISMP) and the US Pharmacopeia (USP) are mostly due to confusion with drug names that look or sound the same (Look-Alike Sound-Alike). The pharmacist's lack of knowledge about drug classes can also make things worse. Pharmacists knowledge of drug names and classes is an effort to prevent medication errors.
Exploring the potential for using drug indications to prevent look-alike and sound-alike drug errors
Expert Opinion on Drug Safety, 2017
Background. Look-alike, sound-alike (LASA) drug names are a cause of medication errors with resulting patient harm and healthcare costs. This study assessed to which extent the use of the generic drug name, therapeutic class, health problem, and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved indications might be used to differentiate LASA drug pairs. Research design and methods. We collected information about LASA drug pairs reported by the FDA to have look-alike sound-alike similarities. To assess potential for differentiating LASA drug pairs, we compared the following drug characteristics: generic name, therapeutic class, health problem, and FDA-approved indication. Results. For the 33 FDA reported LASA drug pairs we identified a total of 432 FDA-approved indications. Using the generic name, therapeutic class, health problem and drug indication we were able to differentiate 8 (24.2%), 24 (72.7%), 25 (75.8%) and 26 (78.8%), respectively of the 33 LASA drug pairs. Using the generic name, therapeutic class, and health problem we were able to distinguish 31 (7.2%), 212 (49.1%), and 269 (62.3%), respectively of the 432 FDA-approved indications for the LASA drug pairs. Conclusions. Including the FDA-approved indication in the drug prescription may be used to differentiate LASA drug pairs and thus, prevent wrong drug medication errors.
Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Care and Sciences, 2015
Background: There are many reports regarding various medical institutions' attempts at incident prevention, but the relationship between incident types and impact on patients in drug name errors has not been studied. Therefore, we analyzed the relationship between them, while also assessing the relationship between preparation and inspection errors. Furthermore, the present study aimed to clarify the incident types that lead to severe patient damage. Methods: The investigation object in this study was restricted to "drug name errors", preparation and inspection errors in them were classified into three categories (similarity of drug efficacy, similarity of drug name, similarity of drug appearance) or two groups (drug efficacy similarity (+) group, drug efficacy similarity (−) group). Then, the relationship between preparation and inspection errors was investigated in three categories, the relationship between incident types and impact on patients was examined in two groups. Results: The frequency of preparation errors was liable to be caused by the following order: similarity of drug efficacy > similarity of drug name > similarity of drug appearance. In contrast, the rate of inspection errors was liable to be caused by the following order: similarity of drug efficacy < similarity of drug name < similarity of drug appearance. In addition, the number of preparation errors in the drug efficacy similarity (−) group was fewer than that in the drug efficacy similarity (+) group. However, the rate of inspection errors in the drug efficacy similarity (−) group was significantly higher than that in the drug efficacy similarity (+) group. Furthermore, the occupancy rate of preparation errors, incidents more than Level 0, 1, and 2 in the drug efficacy similarity (−) group increased gradually according to the rise of patient damage. Conclusions: Our results suggest that preparation errors caused by the similarity of drug appearance and/or drug name are likely to lead to the incidents (inspection errors), and these incidents are likely to cause severe damage to patients subsequently.
Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical research, 2021
Objectives: The study was conducted to assess the perception and practice of medical practitioners, working in tertiary care, and teaching institutions in Eastern India, regarding the use of generic (non-proprietary) names while prescribing. The study tried to assess their perception toward using drugs from the National List of Essential Medicine (NLEM), as well. Methods: An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted. Medical practitioners attached to the institution were considered for the study and those who gave voluntarily consent were included. Hundred participants were interviewed based on convenient random sampling. They were provided with the study questionnaire and the responses were analyzed using Microsoft Excel 2007 using charts and tables. Results: Majority (43/100) did not feel that generic medicines are as effective as reputed brands, while 32 felt they are of equally effective. About 45% (45/99) felt generics to be equally safe as and 24% (24/99) did not feel so. About 86% considered generics to be cheaper. About 56% did not prefer to substitute with generics in all conditions. About 73% had doubts regarding the quality of production of generics. The decision to use generics was mostly influenced by the lower cost (73%) and by administrative pressure (53%). About 58% felt that the NLEM does not contain all the medicines they would require in practice. About 94% agreed to prescribe more in generics if the quality may be ensured. Conclusion: Awareness of the NLEM and about generics needs to be improved. Authorities need to ensure the quality of generics and assure the prescribers about it.