Current practices for labeling medications in hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Background: Good medication labeling practices are imperative to ensure safe medication use. Non-adherence to labeling protocols is reported as one major source of medication errors.

Objective: This study was intended to evaluate and compare adherence to labeling guidelines for dispensed medications among the hospitals of the five different health sectors in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional analysis was conducted among 14 public hospitals in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Labeling guidelines issued by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices were used as a standard assessment tool. A total of 218 medication labels were collected and evaluated for labeling adequacy. Descriptive statistics were used to elaborate the study findings. All analyses were performed with Microsoft Access.

Results: The study showed a substantial rate of adherence to the labeling guidelines. In terms of the established criteria, community and mail orders were reported to adhere strongly (90.5%), whereas injectables adhered least to the labeling guidelines. The labeling format, contents of the label, instructions on the labels, abbreviations used on the labels and drug names were also consistent with the guidelines (80.0%, 84.0%, 88.0%, 97.7% and 85.5%, respectively). Organizations belonging to the public sector reported a higher level of adherence (⩾80.0%) than the level found for private hospitals (70.0%).

Conclusion: In Riyadh hospitals, medication labeling following the guidelines issued by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices, is well accepted and rationally practiced. However, a nationwide study is recommended to evaluate if the guidelines are followed throughout Saudi Arabia.