Recognition on Medication Safety and Look-alike/Sound-alike Medication Problems in Thai Public Hospitals

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Published: Sep 1, 2015
Keywords:
LASA medication problem medication safety medication error

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Chattraporn Chumchit
Department of Pharmacy, Damnoen Saduak Hospital, Thailand. Corresponding author's e-mail: toey023@gmail.com
Yaowalak Amrumpai
Department of Community Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Silpakorn University, Thailand
Charoen Treesak
Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand

Abstract

Little is known about medication safety policy recognition and look alike/sound-alike (LASA) medicationerror magnitude among Thai public hospitals. We aimed to determine recognition on and implementationof Thai national medication safety policy, and type and frequency of LASA errors. Questionnaires weremailed to all 971 public hospitals during September 2009 to January 2011. We found that, of 479 informants,the majorities of all returned questionnaires were from community hospitals. Of all informants, the majoritiesconsisted of 226 pharmacy department heads and 353 staff pharmacists. The majority knew about the nationalpolicy on medication safety (88.52%). Most hospitals reported complete implementation of medicationsafety measure (MSM) (78.29%) while 19.41% reported partial implementation. Most hospitals (82.46%)ranked LASA incidents the most troublesome cause of medication safety but the most carried out MSM wasfor preventing high alert drug errors. Most given LASA errors were commonly found in various hospitals.Generic name LASA errors were most frequently reported. This study aimed to achieve a systematic approachby means of medication safety measures to alleviate the related problems at all healthcare system levels.

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How to Cite
Chumchit, C., Amrumpai, Y., & Treesak, C. (2015). Recognition on Medication Safety and Look-alike/Sound-alike Medication Problems in Thai Public Hospitals. Science, Engineering and Health Studies, 9(2), 40–51. Retrieved from https://li01.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/sehs/article/view/39203
Issue
Volume 9, Number 2 (July - December), 2015
Section
Research Articles

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