The utility of the records medical: factors associated with the medication errors in chronic disease.

OBJECTIVE: This study describes the development of the medication history of the medical records to measure factors associated with medication errors among chronic diseases patients in Diamantina, Minas Gerais.

METHODS: retrospective, descriptive observational study of secondary data, through the review of medical records of hypertensive and diabetic patients, from March to October 2016.

RESULTS: The patients the mean age of patient was 62.1 ± 14.3 years. The number of basic nursing care (95.5%) prevailed and physician consultations were 82.6%. Polypharmacy was recorded in 54% of sample, and review of the medication lists by a pharmacist revealed that 67.0% drug included at least one risk. The most common risks were: drug-drug interaction (57.8%), renal risk (29.8%), risk of falling (12.9%) and duplicate therapies (11.9%). Factors associated with medications errors history were chronic diseases and polypharmacy, that persisted in multivariate analysis, with adjusted RP chronic diseases, diabetes RP 1.55 (95%IC 1.04-1.94), diabetes/hypertension RP 1.6 (95%CI 1.09-1.23) and polypharmacy RP 1.61 (95%IC 1.41-1.85), respectively.

CONCLUSION: Medication errors are known to compromise patient safety. This has led to the suggestion that medication reconciliation an entry point into the systems health, ongoing care coordination and a person focused approach for people and their families.