Page 121 - GHES-2-3

Global Health Economics and
Sustainability
Prevalence and causes of medication transcription errors

implementation of medication reconciliation tools (Callen Conflict of interest
et al., 2010; Jennane et al., 2011; Lane et al., 2014; Lloyd,
2020; Mahmoud et al., 2020; McComas et al., 2014). The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
This study had several strengths. It was a prospective Author contributions
observational study, and the ward staff was blinded to Conceptualization: All authors
avoid the Hawthorne effect. In addition, the study setting Investigation: Yong Marie Noel Sangha
was comprehensive, as medication orders transcribed for Writing – original draft: Suh Nsutebu Ntani
all patients were analyzed from admission to discharge Writing – review & editing: All authors
throughout the study period. Despite these strengths, there
are a few limitations in the study. It was a single-site study Ethics approval and consent to participate
carried out with a small sample size in two wards over a Ethical approval for this study was obtained from
short period, limiting the generalizability of the findings the Baptist Training School for Health Personnel Ethical
to other hospitals in Cameroon and beyond. Furthermore,
we examined a single step in the medication use process Committee. Authorization to carry out the study was
(transcription; therefore, our findings do not present a sought from the hospital administration. Participant’s
comprehensive picture of medication safety practices in written informed consent was obtained after elaborating
our setting. The incidence of MTEs might have decreased the purpose of the study. For participants below 16 years
of age, informed consent was obtained from their parents/
as the study progressed because the clinical pharmacist caregivers.
intervened when transcription errors were identified, and
nurses in the wards might have become more cautious. In Consent for publication
addition, we did not assess the potential severity of MTEs
identified, which could provide a better understanding of Participant’s written informed consent for publication was
the scale of the problem in future studies. obtained after elaborating on the purpose of the study.
For those below 16 years of age, informed consent for
5. Conclusion publication was obtained from their parents/caregivers.
There is little information on the prevalence of transcription Availability of data
errors within hospitals in Africa, and this study adds to
the literature on MTEs and their likely causes among The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current
hospitalized patients (Mekonnen et al., 2018). MTEs were study are available from the corresponding author upon
common among patients, with similar rates observed in both reasonable request.
pediatric and adult patients. In our hospital, medications are Further disclosure
ordered using handwritten prescriptions, and the orders are
transcribed in two stages. Our findings indicate that most A preprint of this manuscript has been posted in Research
of the errors occurred in both transcription stages, making Square (https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2710592/v1).
them more likely to reach the patient. Nurses attributed
illegible prescriptions, increased workload, and distractions References
as the most likely causes of transcription errors. Strategies Ali, S., Aboheimed, N.I., Al-Zaagi, I.A., & Al-Dossari, D.S. (2017).
such as the elimination of the transcription step in the Analysis of medication errors at a large tertiary care hospital
medicine use process could reduce the workload on nurses in Saudi Arabia: A retrospective analysis. International
and improve accuracy (Benoit et al., 2012; Callen et al., 2010). Journal of Clinical Pharmacy, 39(5):1004-1007.
In the future, the hospital could further improve medication https://doi.org/10.1007/s11096-017-0514-7
safety by acquiring a computerized provider order entry Armutlu, M., Foley, M.L., Surette, J., Belzile, E., & McCusker, J.
system, which would eliminate transcription of orders and (2008). Survey of nursing perceptions of medication
illegible handwritten prescriptions, thereby reducing the administration practices, perceived sources of errors and
workload on nurses and overall improving patient safety. reporting behaviours. Healthcare Quarterly (Toronto, Ont),
11(3 Spec No):58-65.
Acknowledgments
https://doi.org/10.12927/hcq.2008.19651
None.
Benoit, E., Eckert, P., Theytaz, C., Joris-Frasseren, M.,
Funding Faouzi, M., & Beney, J. (2012). Streamlining the medication
process improves safety in the intensive care unit. Acta
None. Anaesthesiologica Scandinavica, 56(8):966-975.

Volume 2 Issue 3 (2024) 6 https://doi.org/10.36922/ghes.2457