Page 116 - GHES-2-3

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Prevalence and causes of medication

transcription errors among hospitalized patients:
An observational study and survey of nurses at a

faith-based hospital in Cameroon

Suh Nsutebu Ntani* and Yong Marie Noel Sangha
Cameroon Baptist Convention Health Services, Bamenda, Northwest Region, Cameroon

Abstract
Medication errors are a leading cause of death globally; with the burden on resource-
limited countries more than double that in high-income countries. Errors can occur
at all stages of the medication use process; however, there is limited information on
medication transcription errors (MTEs) among hospitalized patients in Africa. This
study sought to determine the prevalence and types of MTEs and to assess nurses’
perceptions of the likely causes of MTEs within the pediatric and general wards at a
faith-based hospital in Cameroon. A prospective chart review of medication orders
Academic editor: transcribed for patients admitted from April 1 to April 30, 2021, was conducted.
Mihajlo Jakovljevic M.D. Ph.D. MAE Data analyzed included patient demographics, prevalence and types of MTEs,
medication classes involved in MTEs, and nurse’s perceptions of the causes of MTEs.
*Corresponding author:
Suh Nsutebu Ntani A total of 578 medication orders were reviewed for 75 patients, of whom 40 (53%)
(ntansuh@gmail.com) were female, and 30 were admitted to the pediatric ward. The results revealed that
Citation: Ntani, S.N. & 38 MTEs were recorded, with 47% occurring on the medication administration sheet
Sangha, Y.M.N. (2024). and dispensing cards. The most frequent MTEs were the omission of new and stop
Prevalence and causes of medication orders, involved in 28.9% and 26% of all MTEs, respectively. Antibacterials
medication transcription errors
among hospitalized patients: An for systemic use were involved in the majority (55.3%) of MTEs. Illegible prescriptions
observational study and survey of (90.7%), distractions (87.0%), and high workload (77.8%) were ascribed as the most
nurses at a faith-based hospital likely causes of MTEs. In conclusion, MTEs are common and pose a potential risk of
in Cameroon. Global Health Econ
Sustain, 2(3):2457. patient harm in hospitalized patients. The adoption of a computerized provider order
https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2457 entry system could eliminate illegible prescriptions, reduce transcription processes,
Received: December 16, 2023 and alleviate workload, thereby improving patient safety.
Accepted: April 28, 2024
Keywords: Patient safety; Transcription errors; Nurses
Published Online: August 14, 2024
Copyright: © 2024 Author(s).
This is an Open-Access article
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution 1. Introduction
License, permitting distribution,
and reproduction in any medium, Medication errors are the leading cause of medication-related harm, with an estimated
provided the original work is yearly cost of US$ 42 billion globally (World Health Organization, 2017). Resource-
properly cited. limited countries suffer twice as much burden from medication errors compared to high-
Publisher’s Note: AccScience income countries (World Health Organization, 2017). Weak medication systems and
Publishing remains neutral with human factors such as fatigue, inadequate environmental conditions, lack of knowledge,
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional and work overload have been shown to affect different stages of the medication use
affiliations. process and can cause severe harm or death (Elliott & Liu, 2010; South et al., 2015;

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2457