SynthesisPloS one2021
Pharmacist-led educational interventions provided to healthcare providers to reduce medication errors: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 60 papers, 8 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
60 citing papers in PubMed, 8 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 100 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of Clinical Pharmacist Educational Intervention on Lipid Profile and its Clinical Outcomes.Saudi medical journal · 2026Pooled it
- Global trends and thematic clusters in healthcare professional education, medical errors, and patient safety: a bibliometric analysis, 2000-2026.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Pooled it
- The role of pharmacists in mitigating medication errors in the perioperative setting: a systematic review.Systematic reviews · 2025Pooled it
- Effect of pharmacist care on clinical outcomes and therapy optimization in perioperative settings: A systematic review.American journal of health-system pharmacy : AJHP : official journal of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists · 2024Pooled it
- Audit and feedback interventions involving pharmacists to influence prescribing behaviour in general practice: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Family practice · 2023Pooled it
- Prevalence, contributing factors, and interventions to reduce medication errors in outpatient and ambulatory settings: a systematic review.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Pooled it
- The impact of clinical pharmacist services on patient health outcomes in Pakistan: a systematic review.BMC health services research · 2021Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
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- Reporting patterns of adverse drug withdrawal events using individual case safety reports in the FAERS and Eudravigilance databases.Exploratory research in clinical and social pharmacy · 2026Article
- Impact of Pharmacist-Led Interventions on Patient Outcomes in Gulf Cooperation Council Countries: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Review
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- The Current Cardio-Oncology Landscape Across Australia.Current treatment options in oncology · 2026Review
- Analysis of Pharmacist Interventions to Reduce Medication-Related Problems in a Neonatal Clinical Care Unit.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Drug-Drug Interaction Knowledge, Practices, and Barriers in Community Pharmacies: A Cross-Sectional Study from Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Inhomogeneity of noradrenaline levels in syringe pump systems and how to prevent it: an in vitro study.BMC anesthesiology · 2026Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionMedication errors are avoidable events that can occur at any stage of the medication use process. They are widespread in healthcare systems and are linked to an increased risk of morbidity and mortality. Several strategies have been studied to reduce their occurrence including different types of pharmacy-based interventions. One of the main pharmacist-led interventions is educational programs, which seem to have promising benefits.
objectiveTo describe and compare various pharmacist-led educational interventions delivered to healthcare providers and to evaluate their impact qualitatively and quantitatively on medication error rates.
methodsA systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted through searching Cochrane Library, EBSCO, EMBASE, Medline and Google Scholar from inception to June 2020. Only interventional studies that reported medication error rate change after the intervention were included. Two independent authors worked through the data extraction and quality assessment using Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool (CCAT). Summary odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated using a random-effects model for rates of medication errors. Research protocol is available in The International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) under the registration number CRD42019116465.
resultsTwelve studies involving 115058 participants were included. The two main recipients of the educational interventions were nurses and resident physicians. Educational programs involved lectures, posters, practical teaching sessions, audit and feedback method and flash cards of high-risk abbreviations. All studies included educational sessions as part of their program, either alone or in combination with other approaches, and most studies used errors encountered before implementing the intervention to inform the content of these sessions. Educational programs led by a pharmacist were associated with significant reductions in the overall rate of medication errors occurrence (OR, 0.38; 95% CI, 0.22 to 0.65).
conclusionPharmacist-led educational interventions directed to healthcare providers are effective at reducing medication error rates. This review supports the implementation of pharmacist-led educational intervention aimed at reducing medication errors.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
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.