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Table 3 Phases and types of reported medication errors associated with direct oral anticoagulants (DOAC) in the medical error reports

From: Medication errors associated with direct-acting oral anticoagulants: analysis of data from national pharmacovigilance and local incidents reporting databases

Medication error type DOAC type Statistical test p
Apixaban (n = 134) Dabigatran (n = 28) Rivaroxaban (n = 37)
Prescribing (n = 162, 81.4%)
 Medication-duplicate therapeutic category 26 (19.4%)a 1 (3.6%)b 0 (0.0%)b   
 Incorrect dose 17 (12.7%)a 5 (17.8%)a 11 (29.7%)a   
 Wrong patient 9 (6.7%)a 3 (10.6%)a, b 8 (21.6%)b   
 Incorrect frequency 23 (17.2%)a 2 (7.2%)a 3 (8.1%)a   
 Incorrect quantity 11 (8.3%)a 9 (32.1%)b 9 (24.3%)b 46.262 0.001*
 Contraindicated/drug–drug interactions 6 (4.4%)a 1 (3.6%)a 0 (0.0%)a   
 Incorrect duration 5 (3.8%)a 4 (14.3%)a 1 (2.7%)a   
 Incorrect medication 2 (1.4%)a 2 (7.2%)a 0 (0.0%)a   
 Improper/lack of documentation 3 (2.2%)a 0 (0.0%)a 0 (0.0%)a   
 Side effect 1 (0.7%)a 0 (0.0%)a 0 (0.0%)a   
 Total per DOAC type 103 (76.8%) 27 (96.4%) 32 (86.5%)   
Dispensing (n = 21, 10.6%)
 Medication-duplicate therapeutic category 1 (0.7%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)   
 Incorrect dose 5 (3.8%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)   
 Wrong patient 5 (3.8%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)   
 Incorrect quantity 1 (0.7%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 21.000 0.140
 Contraindicated/drug–drug interactions 0 (0.0%) 1 (3.6%) 0 (0.0%)   
 Incorrect medication 5 (3.8%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)   
 Delay preparation 3 (2.2%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)   
 Total per DOAC type 20 (15.0%) 1 (3.6%) 0 (0.0%)   
Administration (n = 9, 4.5%)
 Medication-duplicate therapeutic category 5 (3.8%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)   
 Incorrect dose 1 (0.7%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (2.7%)   
 Incorrect duration 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (2.7%) 6.107 0.168
 Side effect 1 (0.7%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)   
 Total per DOAC type 7 (5.2%) 0 (0.0%) 2 (5.4%)   
Monitoring      
 Incorrect dosage form 1 (0.7%) 0 (0.0%) 2 (5.4%)   
 Incorrect frequency 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) 1 (2.7%) 4.00 0.504
 Total per DOAC type 1 (0.7%) 0 (0.0%) 3 (8.1%)   
Storage (n = 3, 1.5%)
 Incorrect dose 1 (0.7%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)   
 Delayed preparation 1 (0.7%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%) – –
 Improper/lack of documentation 1 (0.7%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)   
 Total per DOAC type 3 (2.3%) 0 (0.0%) 0 (0.0%)   
  1. *Monte Carlo exact test: all phases were valid for conducting the analysis except for the storage phase because the dataset in the other phases was available for only one drug
  2. Post hoc pairwise comparison using z-test was submitted: each subscript letter (a, b) denotes a subset of DOAC type categories whose column proportions differ significantly from each other on basis of medication error subtype with adjusted p value (< 0.167)
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Journal of Pharmaceutical Policy and Practice

ISSN: 2052-3211

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