Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34621455›Full record

ArticlePharmacy practice

Pharmacy student-assisted medication reconciliation: Number and types of medication discrepancies identified by pharmacy students.

Louise Deep, Carl R Schneider, Rebekah Moles, Asad E Patanwala, Linda L Do, Rosemary Burke, Jonathan Penm

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Pharmacy practice. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 46% of its field
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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Implications of pharmacy students' involvement in collecting the best possible medication histories in hospital settings: A scoping review.American journal of health-system pharmacy : AJHP : official journal of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists · 2025
    Article
  3. Obtaining medication histories via telepharmacy: an observational study.Journal of pharmaceutical policy and practice · 2023
    Article
  4. Observational
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

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Louise DeepDepartment of Pharmacy, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Camperdown, NSW (Australia). Louise.deep@health.nsw.gov.au.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8522-1704
Carl R SchneiderSchool of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. Sydney, NSW (Australia). Carl.schneider@sydney.edu.au.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2921-5609
Rebekah MolesSchool of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. Sydney, NSW (Australia). Rebekah.moles@sydney.edu.au.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4043-6728
Asad E PatanwalaSchool of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. Sydney, NSW (Australia). Asad.patanwala@sydney.edu.au.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3999-4703
Linda L DoSchool of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. Sydney, NSW (Australia). Linda.do@sydney.edu.au.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0202-2487
Rosemary BurkeSydney Local Health District, Sydney, NSW (Australia). Rosemary.burke@health.nsw.gov.au.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5396-8977
Jonathan PenmSchool of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of Sydney. Sydney, NSW (Australia). Jonathan.penm@sydney.edu.au.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9606-7135
The University of Sydney · AUNew South Wales Department of Health · AURoyal Prince Alfred Hospital · AU

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMedication reconciliation aims to prevent unintentional medication discrepancies that can result in patient harm at transitions of care. Pharmacist-led medication reconciliation has clear benefits, however workforce limitations can be a barrier to providing this service. Pharmacy students are a potential workforce solution.

objectiveTo evaluate the number and type of medication discrepancies identified by pharmacy students.

methodsFourth year pharmacy students completed best possible medication histories and identified discrepancies with prescribed medications for patients admitted to hospital. A retrospective audit was conducted to determine the number and type of medication discrepancies identified by pharmacy students, types of patients and medicines involved in discrepancies.

resultsThere were 294 patients included in the study. Overall, 72% (n=212/294) had medication discrepancies, the most common type being drug omission. A total of 645 discrepancies were identified, which was a median of three per patient. Patients with discrepancies were older than patients without discrepancies with a median (IQR) age of 74 (65-84) vs 68 (53-77) years (p=0.001). They also took more medicines with a median (IQR) number of 9 (6-3) vs 7 (2-10) medicines per patient (p<0.001). The most common types of medicines involved were those related to the alimentary tract and cardiovascular system.

conclusionsPharmacy students identified medication discrepancies in over 70% of hospital inpatients, categorised primarily as drug omission. Pharmacy students can provide a beneficial service to the hospital and contribute to improved patient safety by assisting pharmacists with medication reconciliation.

Indexed as

AustraliaCross-Sectional StudiesHospitalizationMedical History TakingMedication ReconciliationPharmaceutical ServicesPharmacistsProfessional CompetenceStudents, PharmacyWorkforce

Identifiers

PMID34621455
PMCPMC8456341
OpenAlexW3199380969

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.