ART-related medication errors in hospitalized people with HIV in the INSTI-era: analysis from 2 health systems in South Georgia, U.S.

ABSTRACT

ART-related medication errors occur at high rates in hospitalized people with HIV (PWH), but few studies included modern regimens. As such, we evaluated ART-related medication errors in hospitalized PWH in an era where use of INSTI-based regimens dominate. This multi-center, retrospective cohort included PWH at least 18 years hospitalized in South Georgia, U.S. between March 2016 and March 2018. Of those eligible for inclusion, 400 were randomly selected and included. Three hundred sixty-three inpatient ART-related medication errors occurred in 203 patients during the study period due to incorrect scheduling (44%), an incorrect or incomplete regimen (27%), and drug–drug interactions (27%). Approximately 25% of errors persisted to discharge. Medication errors were more likely to occur in patients receiving NNRTI- or PI-containing multi-tablet regimens, whereas those receiving INSTI-containing multi-tablet regimens were less likely to experience a medication error. ART-related medication errors are less likely in patients receiving INSTI-containing multi-tablet regimens. Ensuring appropriate transition of ART throughout hospitalization remains an area in need of significant improvement.

KEYWORDS:

• Anti-retroviral agents
• medication errors
• HIV infections
• hospitalization

Acknowledgements

Data from this study were presented, in part, as poster presentations at the Georgia Society of Health System Pharmacists Spring Meeting, the American Society of Health System Pharmacists Midyear Clinical Meeting, and the Infectious the Diseases Society of America’s IDWeek.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Funding details

The use of REDCap™ was supported by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number UL1TR002378. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.