Medication errors in the older people population

Figures & data

Table 1. Medication errors made by the older population.

Patient medication errors^a Categories	Frequent errors	Approaches for tracking with errors
Commission	Dosing mistakes, incorrect dosage (higher dose), double dose. Administering a wrong medication due to look-alike packaging. Dispensers misuse. Taking the correct medicine but inappropriately combined with food, beverages or herbal substances. Taking the medication from another person or from a pet. Taking drug once expired. Storing in inappropriate conditions. Over-the-counter use.	Re-design the containers, presentations, dispensers and instructions considering the behavior of patients at home. Review iso-appearance of the packaging and presentations to avoid confusions. Promote the use of electronic pillboxes and other mHealth solutions to increase medication safety use of medication. Promote reconciliation of medication to reduce the burden of treatments. Review the information given, particularly in case of low health literacy. Patient Expert interventions: may include patient experience of medication misuse and effective home care tricks to tackle with. Do not forget to advise caregivers (relatives) of dosing and precautions to be account. Promote self-care engagement in drug safety. Promote debates on safety in virtual learning communities or networks of caregivers.
Omission	Forgetfulness. Incorrect dosage (lower dose). Forgetting the doctor´s or pharmacist´s instructions. Improper timing. Mistaken drug because of confusion or misunderstanding of the general purpose of the medication.

^aPatient medication error: any preventable event that may cause or lead to inappropriate medication use or patient harm while the medication is in the control of the patients (or their caregivers). Between 75% and 96% of older patients have declared that they frequently make mistakes with their medication [9–12].

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