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      Interns' knowledge of clinical pharmacology and therapeutics after undergraduate and on-going internship training in Nigeria: a pilot study

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      1 , 2 , , 2 , 1
      BMC Medical Education
      BioMed Central

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          Abstract

          Background

          A sound knowledge of pathophysiology of a disease and clinical pharmacology and therapeutics (CPT) of a drug is required for safe and rational prescribing. The aim of this study was therefore to assess how adequately the undergraduate CPT teaching had prepared interns in Nigeria for safe and rational prescribing and retrospectively, to know how they wanted the undergraduate curriculum to be modified so as to improve appropriate prescribing. The effect of internship training on the prescribing ability of the interns was also sought.

          Methods

          A total of 100 interns were randomly selected from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja; Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idiaraba; General Hospital Lagos (GHL); the EKO Hospital, Ikeja; and Havana Specialist Hospital, Surulere. A structured questionnaire was the instrument of study. The questionnaire sought information about the demographics of the interns, their undergraduate CPT teaching, experience of adverse drug reactions (ADRs) and drug interactions since starting work, confidence in drug usage and, in retrospect; any perceived deficiencies in their undergraduate CPT teaching.

          Results

          The response rate was 81%. All the respondents graduated from universities in Nigeria. The ability of the interns to prescribe rationally (66, 81.4%) and safely (47, 58%) was provided by undergraduate CPT teaching. Forty two (51.8%) respondents had problems with prescription writing. The interns would likely prescribe antibiotics (71, 87.6%), nonsteroidal analgesics (66, 81.4%), diuretics (55, 67.9%), sedatives (52, 62.9%), and insulin and oral hypoglycaemics (43, 53%) with confidence and unsupervised. The higher the numbers of clinical rotations done, the more confident were the respondents to prescribe unsupervised (χ 2 = 19.98, P < 0.001). Similarly, respondents who had rotated through the four major clinical rotations and at least a special posting (χ 2 = 11.57, P < 0.001) or four major clinical rotations only (χ 2 = 11.25, P < 0.001) were significantly more confident to prescribe drugs unsupervised.

          Conclusion

          Undergraduate CPT teaching in Nigeria appears to be deficient. Principles of rational prescribing, drug dose calculation in children and pharmacovigilance should be the focus of undergraduate CPT teaching and should be taught both theoretically and practically. Medical students and interns should be periodically assessed on prescribing knowledge and skills during their training as a means of minimizing prescribing errors.

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          Most cited references38

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          To Err Is Human : Building a Safer Health System

          (2000)
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            Causes of prescribing errors in hospital inpatients: a prospective study.

            To prevent errors made during the prescription of drugs, we need to know why they arise. Theories of human error used to understand the causes of mistakes made in high-risk industries are being used in health-care. They have not, however, been applied to prescribing errors, which are a great cause of patient harm. Our aim was to use this approach to investigate the causes of such errors. Pharmacists at a UK teaching hospital prospectively identified 88 potentially serious prescribing errors. We interviewed the prescribers who made 44 of these, and analysed our findings with human error theory. Our results suggest that most mistakes were made because of slips in attention, or because prescribers did not apply relevant rules. Doctors identified many risk factors-work environment, workload, whether or not they were prescribing for their own patient, communication within their team, physical and mental well-being, and lack of knowledge. Organisational factors were also identified, and included inadequate training, low perceived importance of prescribing, a hierarchical medical team, and an absence of self-awareness of errors. To reduce prescribing errors, hospitals should train junior doctors in the principles of drug dosing before they start prescribing, and enforce good practice in documentation. They should also create a culture in which prescription writing is seen as important, and formally review interventions made by pharmacists, locum arrangements, and the workload of junior doctors, and make doctors aware of situations in which they are likely to commit errors.
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              Factors related to errors in medication prescribing.

              To quantify the type and frequency of identifiable factors associated with medication prescribing errors. Systematic evaluation of every third prescribing error detected and averted by pharmacists in a 631-bed tertiary care teaching hospital between July 1, 1994, and June 30, 1995. Each error was concurrently evaluated for the potential to result in adverse patient consequences. Each error was retrospectively evaluated by a physician and 2 pharmacists and a factor likely related to the error was identified. All physicians prescribing medications during the study period and all staff pharmacists involved in the routine review of medication orders. Frequency of association of factors likely related to medication errors in general and specific to medication classes and prescribing services (needed for medical, pediatric, obstetric-gynecologic, surgical, or emergency department patients); and potential consequences of errors for negative patient outcomes. A total of 2103 errors thought to have potential clinical importance were detected during the 1-year study period. The overall rate of errors was 3.99 errors per 1000 medication orders, and the error rate varied among medication classes and prescribing services. A total of 696 errors met study criteria (ie, errors with the potential for adverse patient effects) and were evaluated for a likely related factor. The most common specific factors associated with errors were decline in renal or hepatic function requiring alteration of drug therapy (97 errors, 13.9%), patient history of allergy to the same medication class (84 errors, 12.1%), using the wrong drug name, dosage form, or abbreviation (total of 79 errors, 11.4%, for both brand name and generic name orders), incorrect dosage calculations (77 errors, 11.1%), and atypical or unusual and critical dosage frequency considerations (75 errors, 10.8%). The most common groups of factors associated with errors were those related to knowledge and the application of knowledge regarding drug therapy (209 errors, 30%); knowledge and use of knowledge regarding patient factors that affect drug therapy (203 errors, 29.2%); use of calculations, decimal points, or unit and rate expression factors (122 errors, 17.5%); and nomenclature factors (incorrect drug name, dosage form, or abbreviation) (93 errors, 13.4%). Several easily identified factors are associated with a large proportion of medication prescribing errors. By improving the focus of organizational, technological, and risk management educational and training efforts using the factors commonly associated with prescribing errors, risk to patients from adverse drug events should be reduced.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                BMC Med Educ
                BMC Medical Education
                BioMed Central
                1472-6920
                2009
                28 July 2009
                : 9
                : 50
                Affiliations
                [1 ]Pharmacology Department, Lagos State University College of Medicine, P.M.B 21266, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria
                [2 ]Paediatric Department, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria
                Article
                1472-6920-9-50
                10.1186/1472-6920-9-50
                2724475
                19638199
                34266395-0ef5-45ca-b1e0-0c2fb08b6828
                Copyright © 2009 Oshikoya et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

                This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 25 February 2009
                : 28 July 2009
                Categories
                Research Article

                Education
                Education

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