Factors, influencing medication errors in prehospital care: A retrospective observational study

To determine the frequency of medication errors in prehospital care and to investigate the influencing factors – diagnostic agreement (DA), the medical educational status, the specialty, the approval for emergency medicine of the prehospital emergency physician, the patient age and sex and the time of deployment. We retrospectively reviewed 708 patients from 2013 to 2015, treated by the prehospital emergency physicians of the emergency medical service center Bad Belzig, Germany. The medication appropriateness was determined by a systematic comparison of the administered medication in prehospital deployments with the discharge diagnosis, according to current guidelines. The influencing factors were examined by univariate analysis of medication appropriateness (MA), using the χ(2), the Mann–Whtiney U and the Welch tests. We calculated a cut-off value with the Youden index to predict absent MA, according to patients age. The significance level was P = .05. MA was absent in 220 of 708 patients (31.1%). In the case of present DA, MA was absent in 103 of 491 patients (20.9%). In the case of absent DA, MA was absent in 117 of 217 patients (53.9%) (P = .01). MA was absent in 82 of 227 patients (36.1%), treated by specialist and in 138 of 481 patients (28.7%), treated by resident physicians (P = .04). The calculated cut-off value to predict absent MA was 75.5 years. MA was absent in 100 of 375 patients (26.7%) of the younger patient age group (≤75.5 years), MA was absent 120 of 333 patients (36.0%) of the older patient age group (>75.5 years) (P = .01). Absent MA showed peak values (46.7%–60%) at night from 3 to 6 AM (P = .01) The other investigated factors had no influence on MA. The correctness of medication as a quality feature in prehospital care shows a necessity for improvement with a proportion of 31.1% medication errors. The correct diagnosis by the prehospital emergency physician and his rapid accumulation of experience had an impact on the correctness of medication in prehospital care. Elderly patients (75+ years) and nighttime prehospital deployments (3–6 AM) were identified as high risk for medication errors by the emergency physicians.