Does hospitalisation affect hypnotic and anxiolytic drug prescribing?

Objective: The aim of this study was to measure the impact of hospitalisation on hypnotic and anxiolytic (HA) drug prescription, during and after hospitalisation.

Method: A descriptive study was carried out over three periods: before, during and after hospitalisation (three-month follow-up), examining the presence or absence of HA treatment at each stage. The HA drug list studied was selected using the World Health Organisation (WHO) Anatomical Therapeutic and Chemical (ATC) classification system.

[Prevention of preparation errors of cytotoxic drugs in centralized units: from epidemiology to quality assurance].

The centralized preparation of cytotoxic drugs is supposed to help preventing medication errors. Nevertheless, the residual risk of preparation errors has been demonstrated. Above all, prevention is based on the quality assurance policy.

Observational study of potential risk factors of medication administration errors.

Objective: Medication administration errors (MAEs) are the second most frequent type of medication errors, as has been shown in different studies in the literature. The aims of this observational study were to assess the rate and the potential clinical significance of MAEs and to determine the associated risk factors.

Design: In two departments, Geriatric Unit (GU) and Cardiovascular-Thoracic Surgery Unit (CTSU) of Besançon University Hospital (France), MAEs were identified using the undisguised observation technique and classified according to the definitions of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists.