Medication Error and Its Contributing Factors Among Pediatric Patients Diagnosed with Infectious Diseases Admitted to Jimma University Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia: Prospective Observational Study

Figures & data

Table 1 Sociodemographic Characteristics of Study Participants in the Pediatric Ward of JUMC, Southwest Ethiopia, 2018

Variables	Category	Frequency (N=325)N (%)
Sex	Male	184 (56.6)
	Female	141 (43.4)
Age	Neonate (birth to 28 days)	45 (13.8)
	Infant (29 days to ≤1 year)	122 (37.5)
	Toddler (>1 years to ≤3 years)	49 (15.1)
	Preschool (>3 years to ≤5 years)	38 (11.7)
	School age (>5 years to ≤10 years)	43 (13.2)
	Adolescent (>10 years to ≤16 years)	28 (8.6)
Weight (kg)	<5	95 (29.2)
	5 to 9.9	98 (30.2)
	10 to 14.9	51 (15.7)
	15 to 19.9	25 (7.7)
	20 to 24.9	21 (6.5)
	≥25	35 (10.8)
Place of residence	Urban	122 (37.5)
	Rural	203 (62.5)

Table 2 Clinical Characteristics of Study Participants in the Pediatric Ward of JUMC, Southwest Ethiopia, 2018

Variables	Category	Frequency (N=325)N (%)
Comorbidity	Yes	212 (65.2)
	No	113 (34.8)
Duration of hospital stay	≤5 days	84 (25.8)
	6–10 days	133 (40.9)
	≥11 days	108 (33.2)
Number of infectious disease	1	155 (47.7)
	2	123 (37.8)
	≥3	47 (14.5)
Type of admission	New	99 (30.5)
	Transferred	226 (69.5)
Number of drugs prescribed	<5	195 (60)
	≥5	130 (40.0)

Table 3 Prevalence, Stage and Type of Medication Errors Identified Among Study Participants in the Pediatric Ward of JUMC, Southwest Ethiopia, 2018

Variables	Category	Frequency (N=325)N (%)
Medication error	Yes	136 (41.8)
	No	189 (58.2)
Stage of medication error	Prescribing	94 (34.4)
	Drug administration	81 (29.7)
	Transcribing	29 (10.6)
	Dispensing	46 (16.8)
	Monitoring	23 (8.4)
	Total	273 (100)
Type of medication error	Wrong dosing	72 (26.4)
	Wrong frequency	47 (17.2)
	Wrong route of administration	34 (12.4)
	Wrong drug	29 (10.6)
	Omission	27 (9.9)
	Wrong strength/concentration	19 (6.9)
	Wrong duration	18 (6.6)
	Wrong dosage form	14 (5.1)
	Wrong patient	13 (4.7)
Total		273 (100)

Table 4 Class of Drugs Involved in Medication Errors in the Pediatric Ward of JUMC, Southwest Ethiopia, 2018

Class of Drugs	Frequency (N=325)N (%)
Systemic anti-infective medicines	192 (70.3)
Central nervous system medicines	34 (14.5)
Gastrointestinal medicines	23 (8.4)
Respiratory medicines	11 (4.0)
Dermatological medicine	9 (3.3)
Others^a	4 (1.5)

Notes: ^aElectrolyte and acid base balance correcting drugs, medicines affecting the blood, cardiovascular drugs.

Table 5 Multiple Logistic Regression Analysis of Medication Error Among Study Participants in the Pediatric Ward of JUMC, Southwest Ethiopia, 2018

Variables	COR (95%CI)	AOR (95%CI)	P-value
Duration of hospital stay
≤5 days	1	1
6 to 10 days	1.72 (0.97–3.06)	1.39 (0.74–2.57)	0.297
≥11 days	2.07 (1.14–3.76)	1.48 (0.75–2.90)	0.251
Number of drug
<5	1	1
≥5	1.65 (1.05–2.59)	1.51 (0.89–2.54)	0.119
Comorbidity
No	1	1
Yes	1.6 (0.99–2.56)	1.64 (1.01–2.67)	0.045*
Number of infectious disease
1	1	1
2	2.00 (1.23–3.26)	1.96 (1.20–3.23)	0.007*
≥3	2.12 (1.09–4.12)	2.04 (1.03–4.01)	0.039*
Sex
Female	1	1
Male	1.17 (1.12–2.79)	1.79 (1.13–2.86)	0.013*
Age
Neonate	2.25 (0.85–5.94)	1.66 (0.60–4.55)	0.324
Infant	1.57 (0.67–3.69)	1.38 (0.57–3.36)	0.467
Toddler	0.79 (0.29–2.12)	0.69 (0.24–1.95)	0.494
Preschool	1.05 (0.38–2.90)	0.80 (0.27–2.33)	0.687
School age	0.96 (0.35–2.60)	0.72 (0.25–2.04)	0.537
Adolescent	1	1
Place of residence
Urban	1	1
Rural	0.95 (0.60–1.49)	–	–
Type of admission
New	1	1
Transferred	1.62 (0.63–1.65)	–	–

Note: *Statistically significant (P<0.05).