Drug-dispensing errors in the hospital pharmacy.

Objective: To determine the dispensing error rate and to identify factors associated with them, and to propose prevention actions.

Methods: A cross-sectional study focusing on the occurrence of dispensing errors in a general hospital in Belo Horizonte that uses a mixed system (a combination of multidose and unit dose systems) of collective and individualized dosing.

Results: A total of 422 prescription order forms were analyzed, registering 81.8% with at least 1 dispensing error. Opportunities for errors were higher in the pretyped prescription order forms (odds ratio = 4.5; P <.001), in those with 9 or more drugs (odds ratio = 4.0; P <.001), and with those for injectable drugs (odds ratio = 5.0; P <.001). One of the teams of professionals had a higher chance of errors (odds ratio = 2.0; P =.02). A multivariate analysis ratified these results.

Conclusions: The dispensing system at the pharmacy can produce many latent failures and does not have an adequate control; it has several conditions that predispose it to the occurrence of errors, contributing to the high rate reported.