Medication errors and blood pressure control among patients managed for hypertension in public ambulatory care clinics in Botswana
<br><strong>Background <br></strong> The prevalence of hypertension in low- and middle-income countries is rapidly increasing, with most cases undiagnosed and many poorly controlled among those diagnosed. Medication reconciliation studies from high-income countries have demon...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2020
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| _version_ | 1826272195246030848 |
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| author | Gala, P Moshokgo, V Seth, B Ramasuana, K Kazadi, E M'buse, R Pharithi, S Gobotsamang, K Szymanowski, P Kerobale, RO Balekile, K Tshimbalanga, J Tieng'o, J Tapela, N Barak, T |
| author_facet | Gala, P Moshokgo, V Seth, B Ramasuana, K Kazadi, E M'buse, R Pharithi, S Gobotsamang, K Szymanowski, P Kerobale, RO Balekile, K Tshimbalanga, J Tieng'o, J Tapela, N Barak, T |
| author_sort | Gala, P |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <br><strong>Background <br></strong>
The prevalence of hypertension in low- and middle-income countries is rapidly increasing, with most cases undiagnosed and many poorly controlled among those diagnosed. Medication reconciliation studies from high-income countries have demonstrated a high occurrence of antihypertensive medication errors and a strong association between medication errors and inadequate blood pressure control, but data from low- and middle-income countries are lacking. <br><strong>Methods and Results <br></strong>
We conducted a cross-sectional study from April to October 2018 of adult patients on pharmacologic management for known hypertension at 7 public health facilities in Kweneng East District, Botswana. Our aims included to evaluate the frequency of uncontrolled hypertension, the frequency and type of medication errors causing discrepancies between patient-reported and prescribed antihypertensive medications, and the association between medication errors and uncontrolled hypertension. Descriptive analyses and multivariable logistic regression were used. The prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension was 55% among 280 enrolled adult patients, and 95 (34%) had ≥1 medication error. The most common errors included patients taking medications incorrectly (11.1%; 31/280), patients omitting medications (7.9%; 22/280), and unfilled prescriptions caused by pharmacy stock outs (7.5%%; 21/280). Uncontrolled hypertension was significantly associated with having ≥1 medication error compared with no errors (adjusted odds ratio, 3.26; 95% CI, 1.75-6.06; <i>P</i> <0.001). <br><strong>Conclusions <br></strong>
Medication errors are strongly associated with poor blood pressure control in this setting. Further research is warranted to assess whether medication reconciliation and other low-cost interventions addressing root causes of medication errors can improve the control of hypertension and other chronic conditions in low- and middle-income countries. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:08:42Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:510eeb13-9281-42db-92e7-819fc5098409 |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T22:08:42Z |
| publishDate | 2020 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:510eeb13-9281-42db-92e7-819fc50984092022-03-26T16:17:22ZMedication errors and blood pressure control among patients managed for hypertension in public ambulatory care clinics in BotswanaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:510eeb13-9281-42db-92e7-819fc5098409EnglishSymplectic ElementsWiley2020Gala, PMoshokgo, VSeth, BRamasuana, KKazadi, EM'buse, RPharithi, SGobotsamang, KSzymanowski, PKerobale, ROBalekile, KTshimbalanga, JTieng'o, JTapela, NBarak, T<br><strong>Background <br></strong> The prevalence of hypertension in low- and middle-income countries is rapidly increasing, with most cases undiagnosed and many poorly controlled among those diagnosed. Medication reconciliation studies from high-income countries have demonstrated a high occurrence of antihypertensive medication errors and a strong association between medication errors and inadequate blood pressure control, but data from low- and middle-income countries are lacking. <br><strong>Methods and Results <br></strong> We conducted a cross-sectional study from April to October 2018 of adult patients on pharmacologic management for known hypertension at 7 public health facilities in Kweneng East District, Botswana. Our aims included to evaluate the frequency of uncontrolled hypertension, the frequency and type of medication errors causing discrepancies between patient-reported and prescribed antihypertensive medications, and the association between medication errors and uncontrolled hypertension. Descriptive analyses and multivariable logistic regression were used. The prevalence of uncontrolled hypertension was 55% among 280 enrolled adult patients, and 95 (34%) had ≥1 medication error. The most common errors included patients taking medications incorrectly (11.1%; 31/280), patients omitting medications (7.9%; 22/280), and unfilled prescriptions caused by pharmacy stock outs (7.5%%; 21/280). Uncontrolled hypertension was significantly associated with having ≥1 medication error compared with no errors (adjusted odds ratio, 3.26; 95% CI, 1.75-6.06; <i>P</i> <0.001). <br><strong>Conclusions <br></strong> Medication errors are strongly associated with poor blood pressure control in this setting. Further research is warranted to assess whether medication reconciliation and other low-cost interventions addressing root causes of medication errors can improve the control of hypertension and other chronic conditions in low- and middle-income countries. |
| spellingShingle | Gala, P Moshokgo, V Seth, B Ramasuana, K Kazadi, E M'buse, R Pharithi, S Gobotsamang, K Szymanowski, P Kerobale, RO Balekile, K Tshimbalanga, J Tieng'o, J Tapela, N Barak, T Medication errors and blood pressure control among patients managed for hypertension in public ambulatory care clinics in Botswana |
| title | Medication errors and blood pressure control among patients managed for hypertension in public ambulatory care clinics in Botswana |
| title_full | Medication errors and blood pressure control among patients managed for hypertension in public ambulatory care clinics in Botswana |
| title_fullStr | Medication errors and blood pressure control among patients managed for hypertension in public ambulatory care clinics in Botswana |
| title_full_unstemmed | Medication errors and blood pressure control among patients managed for hypertension in public ambulatory care clinics in Botswana |
| title_short | Medication errors and blood pressure control among patients managed for hypertension in public ambulatory care clinics in Botswana |
| title_sort | medication errors and blood pressure control among patients managed for hypertension in public ambulatory care clinics in botswana |
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