Analysis of Medication Errors Reported by Community Pharmacists in the Republic of Korea: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Background and objectives: We aimed to describe medication-related incidents or medication errors (MEs) reported by community pharmacists and analyze the prevalent medications involved. Materials and Methods: We extracted ME reports from databases comprising patient safety incidents reported to the Korean Pharmaceutical Association between January 2013 and June 2021. Medications were analyzed according to the second (therapeutic subgroup) and fifth (chemical substance) levels of the Anatomical Therapeutic Chemical classification. Results: A total of 9046 MEs were identified, most of which were near miss reports (88.3%). Among the errors that reached the patients (521 cases), harmful incidents accounted for 76.8%. Most MEs occurred during prescription (89.5%), while harmful MEs occurred mainly during dispensing (73.3%). In the prescription step, wrong drugs (44.8%), dosing errors (27.0%), and wrong durations (14.0%) were common. Anti-inflammatory and anti-rheumatic products (M01), drugs for acid-related disorders (A02), and antihistamines for systemic use (R06) were the most frequently reported medication classes involved. Harmful incidents were most common for dosing errors (31.0%) and wrong drugs (26.8%) and were common with warfarin, levothyroxine, and glimepiride. Conclusions: The MEs reported by community pharmacists were mainly prescribing errors, most of which were rectified before reaching patients. The prevalent medications involved in harmful errors include anti-diabetic, anti-thrombotic, and anti-inflammatory agents.

Status of Patient Safety Culture in Community Pharmacy Settings: A Systematic Review.

OBJECTIVES: This systematic aimed to understand the global status using the results of survey studies based on the Community Pharmacy Survey on Patient Safety Culture and set the directions of development in terms of the patient safety culture of community pharmacies. METHODS: Electronic searches were performed in EMBASE, MEDLINE, PubMed, and CINAHL databases by using the words "patient safety," "culture," and "community pharmacy" with synonyms or associated words in the original English language research articles published between January 1, 2012, and March 2, 2023. This systematic review was conducted based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. RESULTS: Eleven surveys from 10 countries were selected. Five studies were conducted on pharmacists, whereas 6 studies were carried out on all pharmacy staff members such as pharmacists, technicians, clerks, and pharmacy students on apprenticeship. There was a considerable variation in the positive response rates across the dimensions of all the surveys. The highest positive response score was demonstrated for "teamwork" and "patient counseling," whereas the "staffing, work pressure, and pace" dimension was essential for improving patient safety culture in community pharmacy settings. For overall rating of the pharmacy on patient safety, 84.8% of pharmacy staff members gave good, very good, or excellent as their responses. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the differences among studies, findings of this study are expected to be used as valuable evidence to develop patient safety improvement strategies after reflecting each country's health care setting or community pharmacy practice. Furthermore, the results would offer meaningful assistance to achieve the goals of global campaigns such as the World Health Organization Patient Safety Challenge.

Patient and provider characteristics related with prescribing of ADHD medication: Nationwide health insurance claims database study in Korea.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the association between prescribing of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medication and the patient's age, gender, and type of medical institution in Asia region. INTRODUCTION: This study investigates the prevalence and factors of diagnosis and pharmacological treatment of ADHD in the pediatric population. METHODS: Using the Korea Health Insurance database, study participants were identified as pediatric patients (≤17 years) with at least 1 diagnosis of ADHD (ICD-10, F90) from January 1, 2007 to December 31, 2011. The annual prevalence of ADHD diagnosis and medication was calculated. Annual differences in the prevalence between 2007 and 2011 with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. We conducted multiple logistic regression analysis to estimate adjusted odds ratios (aORs) and their 95% CI to investigate predictors associated with prescribing of ADHD medication. RESULTS: The prevalence of ADHD medication prescribing increased by 26.57% (95% CI, 26.27-26.88) from 0.53% in 2007 to 0.72% in 2011. The prevalence increased by 41.56% (95% CI, 40.51-42.65) in females compared with 34.91% (95% CI, 34.47-35.36) in males. Whereas the prevalence decreased in patients younger than 6 years old, it increased by 74.30% (95% CI, 72.84-75.79) in the 13 to 17-year group. Males were more likely than females to be treated with ADHD medication (aOR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.10-1.13). Physician specialty (psychiatry vs non-psychiatry) (aOR, 1.37; 95% CI, 1.34-1.40) were associated with prescribing of ADHD medication. CONCLUSION: Rapid increases in the diagnosis and pharmacological treatment of ADHD in the pediatric population have been observed. While demographic characteristics were similar to other countries, provider characteristics were different with others reporting that the majority of patients were treated by physicians specializing in psychiatry.

Predictive Factors of Spontaneous Reporting of Adverse Drug Reactions among Community Pharmacists.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the association between spontaneous reporting (SR) and the knowledge, attitude, and needs of community pharmacists (CPs), using a questionnaire following a conceptual model known as the mixed model of knowledge-attitude-practices and the satisfaction of needs. METHODS: Self-administered questionnaires were used with a nationwide convenience sample of CPs between September 1, 2014 and November 25, 2014 in Korea. The association between SR and the predictive factors was evaluated using multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: In total, 1,001 questionnaires were analyzed. The mean age of the respondents and the number of years spent in community pharmacy practice were 45.6 years and 15.3 years, respectively. CPs with experience of SR was 29.4%. Being older than 60 (ORadj, 0.16; 95% CI, 0.06-0.42), having prior experience with adverse drug reactions (ADR) (ORadj, 6.46; 95% CI, 2.46-16.98), having higher specific knowledge of SR (ORadj, 3.58; 95% CI, 1.96-6.56), and having less concern about the obstacles to SR (ORadj, 0.36; 95% CI, 0.23-0.57) were significant contributing factors to SR. The main obstacles to SR included perception of ADRs as 'not serious ADR' (77.9%), 'already well known ADR' (81.5%), and 'uncertain about causality' (73.3%). CPs without reporting experience had greater concerns related to the reporting method and the liability of the pharmacy than those with reporting experience (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Findings from our study showed around one in three CPs had ADR reporting experience in Korea, while 87.1% had prior experience with ADR cases. The knowledge of SR, prior experience of ADR, and less concern about the obstacles to SR were contributing factors for reporting levels.

Patterns of Adverse Drug Reactions in Different Age Groups: Analysis of Spontaneous Reports by Community Pharmacists.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical manifestations and causative drugs associated with adverse drug reactions (ADRs) spontaneously reported by community pharmacists and to compare the ADRs by age. METHODS: ADRs reported to the Regional Pharmacovigilance Center of the Korean Pharmaceutical Association by community pharmacists from January 2013 to June 2014 were included. Causality was assessed using the WHO-Uppsala Monitoring Centre system. The patient population was classified into three age groups. We analyzed 31,398 (74.9%) ADRs from 9,705 patients, identified as having a causal relationship, from a total pool of 41,930 ADRs from 9,873 patients. Median patient age was 58.0 years; 66.9% were female. RESULTS: Gastrointestinal system (34.4%), nervous system (14.4%), and psychiatric (12.1%) disorders were the most frequent symptoms. Prevalent causative drugs were those for acid-related disorders (11.4%), anti-inflammatory products (10.5%), analgesics (7.2%), and antibacterials (7.1%). Comparisons by age revealed diarrhea and antibacterials to be most commonly associated with ADRs in children (p < 0.001), whereas dizziness was prevalent in the elderly (p < 0.001). Anaphylactic reaction was the most frequent serious event (19.7%), mainly associated with cephalosporins and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Among 612 ADRs caused by nonprescription drugs, the leading symptoms and causative drugs were skin disorders (29.6%) and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (16.2%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: According to the community pharmacist reports, the leading clinical manifestations and causative drugs associated with ADRs in outpatients differed among age groups.