Medical News: Nursing Home Med Errors Vary by Form of Drug - in Geriatrics, General Geriatrics from MedPage Today

Residents in nursing and old age homes are four times as likely to get an incorrect dose of medication if it's in liquid rather than pill form, researchers reported.

In a study in 55 British homes, errors included such things as incorrect measurements and not shaking a suspension, according to David Phillip Alldred, PhD, of the University of Leeds in Leeds, England, and colleagues.

Errors also were more likely with inhalers and other drug formulations, compared with pills or tablets dispensed using a monitored dosage system, Alldred and colleagues reported online in BMJ Quality and Safety.

Monitored dosage systems -- also known as unit dose systems -- consist of a tray or cassette with compartments for one or more doses for a particular day and time and are intended to simplify the administration of medications for staff, the researchers noted.

But such systems can't be used for all medications -- liquids, among others -- and it's not clear that they are safer than delivering drugs from the manufacturer's own packaging, Alldred and colleagues noted.

via medpagetoday.com

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