Error type | ICU (intervention ward) | PSU (control ward) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Baseline (n=236) | Follow-up (n=407) | Baseline (n=280) | Follow-up (n=281) | |
Wrong drug | 0.4 (0.0 to 1.2) | 0.0 | 0.4 (0.0 to 1.1) | 0.0 |
Wrong dose | 11.4 (7.3 to 15.4)† | 2.2 (0.8 to 3.6)† | 6.1 (3.3 to 8.9) | 4.6 (2.2 to 7.0) |
Wrong dosage form | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
Deteriorated drug | 7.2 (3.9 to 10.5)† | 0.7 (0.0 to 1.5)† | 2.1 (0.4 to 3.8)† | 0.0† |
Wrong preparation technique | 28.4 (22.6 to 34.2)† | 14.0 (10.6 to 17.4)† | 14.3 (10.2 to 18.4)† | 26.3 (21.2 to 31.4)† |
Omission | 1.3 (0.1 to 2.7) | 0.2 (0.0 to 0.6) | 1.4 (0.0 to 2.8) | 3.9 (1.6 to 6.2) |
Unordered drug | 2.1 (0.3 to 3.9) | 2.7 (1.1 to 4.3) | 4.3 (1.9 to 6.7)† | 0.7 (0.0 to 1.7)† |
Wrong administration technique | 44.9 (38.6 to 51.2) | 46.9 (42.1 to 51.7) | 61.4 (55.7 to 67.1) | 54.1 (48.3 to 59.9) |
*The sum of error rates exceeds the overall prevalence of errors as more than one type of error could be associated with each dose.
†Significant difference between baseline and follow-up (based on 95% CIs).
ICU, intensive care unit; PSU, post-surgical unit.