Medication’s errors: limitation of efficacy and therapeutic safety

Abstract

Medication’s errors (ME) are an important public health problem related to a increase inmorbimortality and health costs, being the majority of them avoidable. The health authorities fight againstthe appearance of ME giving priority to patient´s safety. The objective of this review is to promote a cultureof health safety and stimulate the notification of ME, analyzing the most frequent types, the contributingfactors, the stages of the system of medication use (SMU) and the different causes that induce them. Thedatabases consulted were Medline, ScienceDirect and data pubicized in websites of different organizationsand entities such as WHO, ISMP, SiNASP with a combination of keywords. The most relevant studiespublished in the last five years have been accepted. The ME are presented in all stages of the SMU,specially in the prescription and the administration, where they are most frequent. The most frequentcauses are distractions, interruptions, and work overload, and the most frequent error is the omission ofthe drug. The notification of ME is the key to keep a continuous improvement in clinical safety and allowsknowing the magnitude and repercussion of the problem.