Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38160020›Full record

ArticleBMJ open quality2023

Validation of a method to assess the severity of medication administration errors in Brazil.

Lindemberg Assunção-Costa, Charleston Ribeiro Pinto, Juliana Ferreira Fernandes Machado, Cleidenete Gomes Valli, Luis Eugenio Portela Fernandes de Souza, Bryony Dean Franklin

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ open quality, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
0.4field-weighted citation impact, top 33% 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

0 citing papers in PubMed, 1 citations in OpenAlex.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

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

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Lindemberg Assunção-CostaFaculty of Pharmacy, Federal University, Salvador, Brazil lindemb@ufba.br.ORCID 0000-0002-8752-7301
Charleston Ribeiro PintoFaculty of Pharmacy, Federal University, Salvador, Brazil.
Juliana Ferreira Fernandes MachadoINAFF, National Institute of Pharmaceutical Assistance and Pharmacoeconomics, Salvador, Brazil.
Cleidenete Gomes ValliBahia State Health Secretariat, Salvador, Brazil.
Luis Eugenio Portela Fernandes de SouzaFederal University of Bahia Insitute of Colective Health, salvador, Brazil.
Bryony Dean FranklinUniversity of London School of Pharmacy, London, UK.
Universidade Federal da Bahia · BRUniversidade do Estado da Bahia · BRUniversity of London · GB

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

introductionMedication errors are frequent and have high economic and social impacts; however, some medication errors are more likely to result in harm than others. Therefore, it is critical to determine their severity. Various tools exist to measure and classify the harm associated with medication errors; although, few have been validated internationally.

methodsWe validated an existing method for assessing the potential severity of medication administration errors (MAEs) in Brazil. Thirty healthcare professionals (doctors, nurses and pharmacists) from Brazil were invited to score 50 cases of MAEs as in the original UK study, regarding their potential harm to the patient, on a scale from 0 to 10. Sixteen cases with known harmful outcomes were included to assess the validity of the scoring. To assess test-retest reliability, 10 cases (of the 50) were scored twice. Potential sources of variability in scoring were evaluated, including the occasion on which the scores were given, the scorers, their profession and the interactions among these variables. Data were analysed using generalisability theory. A G coefficient of 0.8 or more was considered reliable, and a Bland-Altman analysis was used to assess test-retest reliability.

resultsTo obtain a generalisability coefficient of 0.8, a minimum of three judges would need to score each case with their mean score used as an indicator of severity. The method also appeared to be valid, as the judges' assessments were largely in line with the outcomes of the 16 cases with known outcomes. The Bland-Altman analysis showed that the distribution was homogeneous above and below the mean difference for doctors, pharmacists and nurses.

conclusionThe results of this study demonstrate the reliability and validity of an existing method of scoring the severity of MAEs for use in the Brazilian health system.

Indexed as

Health PersonnelMedication ErrorsBrazilHumansPharmacistsReproducibility of ResultsClinical pharmacologyHuman errorMedication safetyPatient safetyQuality improvement methodologies

Identifiers

PMID38160020
PMCPMC10759053
OpenAlexW4390444652

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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Registered trials

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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.