Knowledge, Attitude And Practice On Medication Errors Reporting Among Healthcare Practitioners In A Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital.

Abstract

Background

Medication errors are one of the preventable causes of factors upsetting the quality and safety of patients in hospitals. These errors can occur throughout the medication use process, from prescription, and dispensing to administration. Medication errors remain a critical challenge often leading to adverse patient outcomes. Despite advancements in healthcare, medication errors pose a important threat to patient safety worldwide, impacting morbidity and mortality rates in healthcare settings. Disparities in reporting systems across different regions, such as the absence of national medical error reporting in countries like India, can complicate error reporting and their assessment. Understanding healthcare providers’ knowledge, attitude, practice, and perspectives toward error reporting is important for improving patient safety outcomes globally. The study aims to identify barriers and opportunities for implementing targeted interventions, developing efficient strategies, and exploring factors to decrease medication errors.

Methodology

This study used a descriptive cross-sectional design and relied on questionnaires to gather data. All subjects gave their informed consent after the study received ethics approval from the Gannavaram-based Dr. Pinnamaneni Institute of Health Sciences and Research Foundation's committee on 12/10/2023. This study included physicians, postgraduates, nurses, and pharmacists excluding patients and non-medical staff. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the KAP (knowledge, attitude, and practices) of 300 practitioners with respect to reporting medication errors. The link between demographic characteristics was investigated by collecting data via Google forms for one month and then analysing it using descriptive statistics and a Chi-Square test (P value < 0.05).

Results

Medication errors remain prevalent due to handwritten prescriptions and inadequate reporting systems. In our study, out of the 500 questionnaires distributed 323(64.6%) healthcare professionals responded. The study revealed a high baseline knowledge level of 90% among healthcare professionals regarding medication error reporting. Barriers to knowledge include absence of reporting systems, fear of reporting errors. approximately 63% of the respondents exhibited a favorable attitude towards MER with the remaining 37% unfavorable. Factors contributing to unfavorable attitudes include concerns about negative consequences, Healthcare organization culture, perceptions of reporting in efficacy. Actual practice of MER was limited among respondents with reasons for under- reporting include thinking of it as a minimal harm, fear of consequences and concerns over documentation burden, blaming and confidentiality. The results highlight substantial disparities between knowledge, attitudes and the implementation of medication error reporting (MER) among healthcare providers. This underscores the necessity for targeted strategies to improve reporting behavior and patient safety outcomes.

Conclusion

Despite having good knowledge levels, healthcare professionals exhibit limited positive attitudes and practices in medication error reporting (MER). Enhancing education, implementing baseline awareness safety programmes, pharmacovigilance programmes and mentorship during undergraduate and house Surgeon training promotes awareness and increases active reporting. There is a need for comprehensive strategies to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice in MER among healthcare providers.