Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32125666›Full record

SynthesisDrug safety2020

Prevalence and Nature of Medication Errors and Medication-Related Harm Following Discharge from Hospital to Community Settings: A Systematic Review.

Fatema A Alqenae, Douglas Steinke, Richard N Keers

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Drug safety, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 123 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
123citing papers in PubMed, 8 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

123 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

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63 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

3 authors.

Fatema A AlqenaeDivision of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK. Fatema.alqenae@postgrad.manchester.ac.uk.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-9714-0007
Douglas SteinkeDivision of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8917-2674
Richard N KeersDivision of Pharmacy and Optometry, School of Health Sciences, Centre for Pharmacoepidemiology and Drug Safety, University of Manchester, Oxford Road, Manchester, M13 9PT, UK.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7854-8154

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLittle is known about the epidemiology of medication errors and medication-related harm following transition from secondary to primary care. This systematic review aims to identify and critically evaluate the available evidence on the prevalence and nature of medication errors and medication-related harm following hospital discharge.

methodsStudies published between January 1990 and March 2019 were searched across ten electronic databases and the grey literature. No restrictions were applied with publication language or patient population studied. Studies were included if they contained data concerning the rate of medication errors, unintentional medication discrepancies, or adverse drug events. Two authors independently extracted study data.

resultsFifty-four studies were included, most of which were rated as moderate (39/54) or high (7/54) quality. For adult patients, the median rate of medication errors and unintentional medication discrepancies following discharge was 53% [interquartile range 33-60.5] (n = 5 studies) and 50% [interquartile range 39-76] (n = 11), respectively. Five studies reported adverse drug reaction rates with a median of 27% [interquartile range 18-40.5] and seven studies reported adverse drug event rates with a median of 19% [interquartile range 16-24]. For paediatric patients, one study reported a medication error rate of 66.3% and another an adverse drug event rate of 9%. Almost a quarter of studies (13/54, 24%) utilised a follow-up period post-discharge of 1 month (range 2-180 days). Drug classes most commonly implicated with adverse drug events were antibiotics, antidiabetics, analgesics and cardiovascular drugs.

conclusionsThis is the first systematic review to explore the prevalence and nature of medication errors and adverse drug events following hospital discharge. Targets for future work have been identified.

Indexed as

AdultDrug-Related Side Effects and Adverse ReactionsHumansMedication ErrorsPatient DischargePatient TransferPrevalencePrimary Health Care

Identifiers

PMID32125666
PMCPMC7235049

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.