Table 3

Medication administration error (MAE) subcategories included in 16 UK observational studies

MAE subcategories (as per terminology used in studies)		Dean et al10	Ridge et al20	Gethins21	Ho et al22	Cavell and Hughes23	Hartley and Dhillon24	Taxis et al25	Dean and Barber26	Bruce and Wong27	Taxis and Barber28	Wirtz et al11	Franklin et al29	Franklin et al30	Conroy et al31	Ghaleb et al32	Kelly35	Total
1	Omission*	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓	✓	15
2	Wrong dose/improper dose*	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓		✓	✓	14
3	Wrong dosage form/wrong form/wrong preparation selected/wrong pharmaceutical form/wrong formulation*	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓			✓	13
4	Deteriorated drug/expired drug*	(✓)	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓	✓	✓			✓	12
5	Extra dose/unordered dose*	✓	✓		✓		✓	✓	✓				✓	✓		✓	✓	10
6	Wrong drug	✓			✓	✓†		✓	✓			✓	✓	✓		✓	✓	10
7	Unordered drug/unauthorised drug/unprescribed drug*		✓			✓†	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓	✓			✓	✓	10
8	Wrong route*	✓	✓				✓		✓	✓		✓	✓	✓			✓	9
9	Wrong dose preparation/wrong preparation technique/wrong technique/wrong preparation*		✓	✓	✓	✓	✓			✓		✓				✓		8
10	Other/miscellaneous*	✓			✓	✓						✓	✓			✓	✓	7
11	Wrong patient	(✓)		✓		✓†					✓			✓				4
12	Wrong rate of administration*						✓			✓		✓	✓					4
13	Drug incompatibility									✓	✓	✓	✓					4
14	Wrong time ±30 min*			✓	(**)	✓	✓							(**)				3
15	Wrong administration technique*					✓	✓									✓		3
16	Wrong time ±1 h	(**)	(**)		(**)	✓				✓		(**)		(**)			✓	3
17	Fast IV bolus												✓	✓				2
18	Wrong diluent												✓	✓				2
19	Wrong time—not specified													✓		✓		2
20	Unauthorised			✓														1
21	Wrong preparation			✓														1
22	Administration of a drug without a valid prescription					✓†												1
23	Incomplete labeling									✓								1
24	Wrong base solution content									✓								1
25	Errors in solvent/diluent										✓							1
26	Fast administration through a central line										✓							1
27	Fast administration through a peripheral line										✓							1
28	Other administration errors										✓							1
29	Other preparation errors										✓							1
30	Preparation of an unauthorised drug										✓							1
31	Preparation of wrong dose										✓							1
32	Preparation of wrong drug										✓							1
33	Wrong dose preparation											✓						1
34	Wrong solvent												✓					1
35	Wrong volume of diluent												✓					1
36	Wrong volume of solvent												✓					1
37	Errors with inhalers/nebuliser administration														✓			1
38	Errors with oral/gastrostomy drug administration														✓			1
39	Errors with IV drug administration														✓			1
40	Incorrect rate of IV administrations															✓		1
41	Left drug by patient's bedside without checking drug administration															✓		1
42	Omission of nurses’ signature following administration															✓		1
43	Wrong dose preparation and administration																✓	1
44	Wrong time ±2 h		(**)		(**)									(**)				0
Total		7	8	9	8	12	11	7	8	12	11	12	16	11	3	12	11
Types of dose observed (non-IV, IV, or both types)		Non IV	Both	Non IV	Non IV	Non IV	IV	Non IV	Non IV	IV	IV	IV	Both	Both	Both	Both	Non-IV

*Indicate subcategories that were listed by Allan and Barker5 ✓ reported by the study, (✓) reported in a subanalysis of causes of MAEs and not as an MAE subcategory, (**) measured but not considered an error.
†Study used ‘unauthorised drug’ to include wrong drug, wrong patient and administration of a drug without a valid prescription and the number of errors was reported separately.
IV, intravenous.