Evaluation of medication errors detected in private health sector prescriptions in Asuncion, Paraguay

Abstract

The aim of the present research, performed in theNational University of Asuncion, is to determine the prevalence ofMedication Errors in prescription orders at the Private Health SectorPharmacy in Paraguay. Methods: This is a retrospectiveobservational study, whose main variable was the error inprescriptions, and its secondary variables were the number ofpatients reached by the errors and the type of error detected. Asimple random sampling technique was used to obtain 670 casesamong the universe of prescriptions made during the study period.Prescription errors were grouped according to the type of errorsfound. Results: 56.2% of the prescriptions received at the Pharmacysector have between 1 to 5 errors, and only in 43.8% of the cases, theprescriptions were complete. The most prevalent error was theomission of the patient's name, representing 51.58% of the totalerrors. The second most frequent type of error was the omission ofthe date of the prescription (20.18%), followed by errors in thepharmaceutical form (either by omission or by error) with 8.42%.Other types of errors represent percentages less than 8%. Theprevalence of prescription of medications by their generic namereached only 0.14 of the total prescriptions evaluated. Conclusion:In-depth training of prescribers of the Private Health Sector inParaguay is necessary. Encouraging the development of technicalskills in conjunction with active pharmaceutical care could improvethe quality of the prescription and reduce the amount of medicalerrors in the Paraguayan private health sector.