Department of Community Medicine, Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Puducherry – 605 502, India

Department of Community Medicine, Sri Lakshmi Narayana Institute of Medical Sciences, Puducherry – 605 502, India
Medication errors ,Paediatric department ,Community medicine ,

The issue of public safety is becoming increasingly important in terms of public health. A medication error is an avoidable occurrence caused by poor medicine administration that can be handled with an effective management system. Preventable drug errors affect more than 7 million people in all health-care settings, costing USD 21 billion per year. According to a recent study published in the Institute of Medicine, the yearly death rate of people in the United States due to medication-related disorders ranges from 44000 to 98000 per year. The aim of the study was to evaluate the occurrence and nature of prescription errors among pediatric out-patients, as well as to investigate their prescribing habit. In the outpatient Pediatric Department of the Public Sector Hospital in Delhi, India, a quantitative cross-sectional study was done. Over the course of a month, from December 2017 to January 2018, 200 prescription orders from patients aged 14 and up were collected. Patients were approached using a practical sampling technique, and their prescriptions were recorded on a study questionnaire that they constructed themselves. It leads to a conclusion that medication mistakes are common in pediatric ambulatory settings. Prescribers' inability to determine suitable doses in accordance with a child's physiology is primarily to blame for incorrect prescription writing and dispensing. Prescription aspects must be addressed, despite the fact that prescribing errors are common. To reduce these errors, acceptable regulations and electronic prescriptions are required

8 , 2 , 2018