Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38567243›Full record

ArticlePediatric health, medicine and therapeutics2024

An Assessment of Medication Errors Among Pediatric Patients in Three Hospitals in Freetown Sierra Leone: Findings and Implications for a Low-Income Country.

Onome T Abiri, Alex Ninka, Joshua Coker, Fawzi Thomas, Isaac O Smalle, Sulaiman Lakoh, Foday Umaro Turay, James Komeh, Mohamed Sesay, Joseph Sam Kanu and 10 more

Abstract read
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Article in Pediatric health, medicine and therapeutics, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Review
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

20 authors.

Onome T AbiriDepartment of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.ORCID 0000-0001-9413-1885
Alex NinkaDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Joshua CokerDepartment of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Fawzi ThomasDepartment of Pharmacovigilance and Clinical Trials, Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.ORCID 0000-0002-3414-2512
Isaac O SmalleDepartment of Surgery, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Sulaiman LakohDepartment of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.ORCID 0000-0002-7639-0004
Foday Umaro TurayDepartment of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
James KomehDepartment of Pharmacovigilance and Clinical Trials, Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Mohamed SesayDepartment of Pharmacovigilance and Clinical Trials, Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.ORCID 0000-0003-0750-2559
Joseph Sam KanuDepartment of Community Medicine, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.ORCID 0000-0003-0799-6907
Ayeshatu M MustaphaDepartment of Pediatrics, Ola During Children Hospital, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Nellie V T BellDepartment of Pediatrics, Ola During Children Hospital, Freetown, Sierra Leone.ORCID 0000-0002-0941-2840
Thomas Ansumus ContehDepartment of Pharmacovigilance and Clinical Trials, Pharmacy Board of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.ORCID 0009-0008-0985-6573
Sarah Kadijatu ContehDepartment of Pediatrics, King Harman Road Maternity and Children Hospital, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Alhaji Alusine JallohDepartment of Pediatrics, King Harman Road Maternity and Children Hospital, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
James B W RussellDepartment of Internal Medicine, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.ORCID 0000-0003-4732-6588
Noah SesayDepartment of Clinical Pharmacy and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Mohamed BawohDepartment of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.ORCID 0000-0003-3797-0038
Mohamed SamaiDepartment of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.
Michael LahaiDepartment of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, College of Medicine and Allied Health Sciences, University of Sierra Leone, Freetown, Sierra Leone.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Pediatric patients are prone to medicine-related problems like medication errors (MEs), which can potentially cause harm. Yet, this has not been studied in this population in Sierra Leone. Therefore, this study investigated the prevalence and nature of MEs, including potential drug-drug interactions (pDDIs), in pediatric patients. Methods: The study was conducted in three hospitals among pediatric patients in Freetown and consisted of two phases. Phase one was a cross-sectional retrospective review of prescriptions for completeness and accuracy based on the global accuracy score against standard prescription writing guidelines. Phase two was a point prevalence inpatient chart review of MEs categorized into prescription, administration, and dispensing errors and pDDIs. Data was analyzed using frequency, percentages, median, and interquartile range. Kruskal-Wallis H and Mann-Whitney Results: Three hundred and sixty-six (366) pediatric prescriptions and 132 inpatient charts were reviewed in phases one and two of the study, respectively. In phase one, while no prescription attained the global accuracy score (GAS) gold standard of 100%, 106 (29.0%) achieved the 80-100% mark. The patient 63 (17.2%), treatment 228 (62.3%), and prescriber 33 (9.0%) identifiers achieved an overall GAS range of 80-100%. Although the total GAS was not statistically significant (p=0.065), the date (p=0.041), patient (p=<0.001), treatment (p=0.022), and prescriber (p=<0.001) identifiers were statistically significant across the different hospitals. For phase two, the prevalence of MEs was 74 (56.1%), while that of pDDIs was 54 (40.9%). There was a statistically positive correlation between the occurrence of pDDI and number of medicines prescribed (r=0.211, P=0.015). Conclusion: A Low GAS indicates poor compliance with prescription writing guidelines and high prescription errors. Medication errors were observed at each phase of the medication use cycle, while clinically significant pDDIs were also reported. Thus, there is a need for training on prescription writing guidelines and medication errors.

Indexed as

drug-drug interactionsmedication errorspediatricsprescriptionSierra Leone

Identifiers

PMID38567243
PMCPMC10986401

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