Clinical Pharmacology & Biopharmaceutics
Open Access

Abstract

Objectives: To assess the legibility and completeness of handwritten prescriptions and compare with electronic prescription system for medication errors. Design: Prospective study Setting: King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH), Riyadh, KSA. Subjects & Methods: Handwritten prescriptions were received from clinical units of Medicine Outpatient Department (MOPD), Primary Care Clinic (PCC) and Surgery Outpatient Department (SOPD) whereas electronic prescriptions were collected from the pediatric ward. The handwritten prescription was assessed for completeness by the checklist designed according to the hospital prescription and evaluated for legibility by two pharmacists. The comparison between hand written and electronic prescription errors was evaluated based on the validated checklist adopted from previous studies. Main Outcome Measures: Legibility and completeness of prescriptions Results: 398 prescriptions (199 handwritten and 199 e-prescriptions) were assessed. About 71 (35.7%) of handwritten and 5 (2.5%) of electronic prescription errors were identified. A significant statistical differences (p<0.001) was observed between hand written and e-prescriptions in omitted dose and omitted route of administration category of error distribution. The rate of completeness in patient identification in handwritten prescriptions was 80.97% in MOPD, 76.36% in PCC and 85.93% in SOPD clinic units. Assessment of medication prescription completeness was 91.48% in MOPD, 88.48% in PCC, and 89.28% in SOPD. Conclusions: This study revealed high incidence of prescribing errors in handwritten prescriptions. The use of e-prescription system showed significant decline in the incidence of errors. The legibility of handwritten prescriptions was relatively good whereas the level of completeness was very low.

Biography

Email: albarrak@ksu.edu.sa