TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2018//
TI  - Analgesic-related medication errors reported to U.S. poison control centers
JO  - Pain medicine
A1  - Eluri, Madhulika
A1  - Spiller, Henry A.
A1  - Casavant, Marcel J.
A1  - Chounthirath, Thitphalak
A1  - Conner, Kristen A.
A1  - Smith, Gary A.
SP  - 2357
EP  - 2370
VL  - 19
IS  - 12
N2  - OBJECTIVE: This study investigates the characteristics and trends of medication errors involving analgesic medications. DESIGN AND METHODS: A retrospective analysis was conducted of analgesic-related medication errors reported to the National Poison Data System (NPDS) from 2000 through 2012. <br><br>RESULTS: From 2000 through 2012, the NPDS received 533,763 reports of analgesic-related medication errors, averaging 41,059 medication errors annually. Overall, the rate of analgesic-related medication errors reported to the NPDS increased significantly by 82.6% from 2000 to 2009, followed by a 5.7% nonsignificant decrease from 2009 to 2012. Among the analgesic categories, rates of both acetaminophen-related and opioid-related medication errors reported to the NPDS increased during 2000-2009, but the opioid error rate leveled off during 2009-2012, while the acetaminophen error rate decreased by 17.9%. Analgesic-related medication errors involved nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (37.0%), acetaminophen (35.5%), and opioids (23.2%). Children five years or younger accounted for 38.8% of analgesics-related medication errors. Most (90.2%) analgesic-related medication errors were managed on-site, rather than at a health care facility; 1.6% were admitted to a hospital, and 1.5% experienced serious medical outcomes, including 145 deaths. The most common type of medication error was inadvertently taking/given the medication twice (26.6%). <br><br>CONCLUSIONS: Analgesic-related medication errors are common, and although most do not result in clinical consequences, they can have serious adverse outcomes. Initiatives associated with the decrease in acetaminophen-related medication errors among young children merit additional research and potential replication as a model combining government policy and multisectoral collaboration.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 1526-2375
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/pm/pnx272
ID  - ref1
ER  -