Raffaella’s Literature Update
Mise à jour de la littérature par Raffaella
The following message is courtesy of Dr Raffaella Ravinetto, Public Health Department, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Belgium.
Dear Friends,
It seems that in 2023 I missed this document, “Global burden of preventable medication-related harm in health care“, which was a deliverable from the Global Patient Safety Challenge: Medication Without Harm and the Global Patient Safety Action Plan 2021- 2030. It will be of interest for all those concerned about adequate use of medicines and patient safety, either as pharmacists, practitioners, researchers, policy-makers…..
For those who lack time to read, here are some key findings, courtesy of Andy Gray (thanks!):
- The pooled prevalence of preventable medication-related harm in all 100 studies included in the review was 5% (1 in 20 patients). One fourth of the harm was severe or potentially life-threatening.
- The prevalence of preventable medication-related harm was 7% in 30 studies in LMICs and 4% (3-5%, one in 25 patients) in 70 studies in HICs. The highest prevalence rates were in the African (9%) and South-East Asian regions (9%).
- Globally, the highest prevalence rates were for patients managed in geriatric care units (17%) and in highly specialized or surgical care (9%).
- Globally, about half (53%) of all preventable medication-related harm occurred at the “ordering/prescribing” stage and 36% at the “monitoring/reporting” stage. In LMICs, almost 80% of preventable medication-related harm occurred during the “ordering/prescribing” stage.
- Antibacterials, antipsychotics, cardiovascular medications, drugs for functional gastrointestinal disorders, endocrine therapy, hypnotics, sedatives and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory products contributed most to medication-related harm globally.
Have a nice reading…if you have time!
Raffaella
PS For those previously active on Twitter/X: many of us are migrating to BlueSky. If interested, you can find me here: http://rravinetto.bsky.social