Assessment of errors and incompleteness of prescriptions in outpatient clinics of public sector hospital in Karachi, Pakistan

Farah Khalid1, Syed Muhammad Farid Hasan1, Fouzia Hassan1, Iyad Naeem Muhammad1, Sabahat Jabeen1, Madiha Mustaque1, Fouzia Israr Ahmed2, Adnan Iqbal3 and Azfar Athar Ishaqui4*

Prescribing errors are considered as one of the important source of medication errors which can lead to adverse drug reactions. It can be preventable by limiting the errors in the medications prescribed. In the present study, physician prescriptions of outpatient clinics were evaluated for the completeness of information needed in prescriptions. Around two thousand seven hundred prescriptions were evaluated. An average of five drugs per prescription was prescribed. Medical record number, patient’s height and allergy status of patient was not declared in any of the prescription. Patient’s name (96%), physician contact number (63%), dosage form (83%), strength of drug (71%) and duration of therapy (78%) were mentioned in comparatively good number. A very low number of drugs (10%) were prescribed by generic name. Major drug-drug interactions were found in 18% prescriptions. Omission of essential information from the prescriptions will definitely be the source of medication errors that can be prevented by utilizing services of pharmacists in community pharmacies.