European Journal of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences

PREVALENCE OF DRUG PRESCRIPTIONS ERRORS IN A DRUGSTORE IN BRASILÂNDIA, MATO GROSSO DO SUL, BRAZIL

Wilian Fernandes Dos Santos, Erli De Souza Bento and Saulo Euclides Silva-Filho*

ABSTRACT

The drug prescription is a document, and the prescribing professional has the function of elaborate a coherent prescription, that correctly transmits the information to all professionals who use this document. Drug prescriptions incorrectly formulated can lead to dispensing errors and guidance inefficiencies in the correct use of medications, which may impair the success of pharmacotherapy applied to the treatment of diseases. In this study, 75 drug prescriptions obtained from a commercial pharmacy in the city of Brasilândia, Mato Grosso do Sul, were analyzed. The results showed that 132 errors were detected in the prescriptions. The following variables were analyzed: drug prescriptions readability, prescriber identification, patient identification, drug dose, posology, and presence of abbreviations. This incidence of errors may reflect the patient's medical treatment, making it impossible to achieve success in pharmacological treatment. Additionally, the pharmacist works directly in the dispensation of prescribed drugs, an intervention and awareness work by the pharmacist directed to the prescribing professionals could help in the minimization of errors for an attempt to solve problems related to the errors of drug prescriptions.

Keywords: Drug Prescriptions, Prescribers, Pharmacotherapy, Pharmacy.